The Trump Administration's War On The Press

President Donald Trump and his administration are engaged in an unprecedented war on the press, which began during his presidential campaign and continued into thetransitionperiod. Trump and his administration’s continued attacks on the press pose a distinct threat to our First Amendment freedoms, and Media Matters is devoted to tracking them. If you know of an attack by Trump or his administration on a journalist or media outlet that should be added to this list, email press@mediamatters.org with a link to the abuse. We will update this list regularly.

January 2017

New Jersey Reporter Said There Was A “Blackout On Regional Newspapers” At The Inauguration. Poynter quoted Jonathan Salant, a Washington correspondent for NJ Advance Media who has covered inaugurations since 1989, saying, “The presidential inaugural committee imposed a blackout on regional newspapers with Washington correspondents.” Salant added that he had “never seen such disdain for the media.”

Jonathan Salant, Washington correspondent for NJ Advance Media who has covered every presidential inauguration since 1989, informs me of the following:

"The presidential inaugural committee imposed a blackout on regional newspapers with Washington correspondents. They never returned emails, never responded to requests and denied everyone credentials to cover the Trump inaugural events but never told anyone so reporters had to wait on lines to pick up non-existent credentials."

They wouldn't even let reporters pick up their already-approved Secret Service credentials, Salant said.

"The Regional Reporters Association email list was buzzing the last two days as Washington reporters from papers across the country traded stories of not being told anything about their credentials, and being turned away when they showed up to try to find out anything," he said.

Salant has "never seen such disdain for the media," he said. [Poynter, 1/20/17]

January 21

President Donald Trump: “I Have A Running War With The Media.” During a visit to CIA headquarters, President Donald Trump said he has “a running war with the media” and called reporters “among the most dishonest human beings on earth.”

The New York Times noted that Trump “unleash[ed] a remarkably bitter attack on the news media, falsely accusing journalists of both inventing a rift between him and intelligence agencies and deliberately understating the size of his inauguration crowd.” Trump accused the media of lying and claimed, “I think they’re going to pay a big price.” From a January 21 New York Times article:

President Trump used his first full day in office on Saturday to unleash a remarkably bitter attack on the news media, falsely accusing journalists of both inventing a rift between him and intelligence agencies and deliberately understating the size of his inauguration crowd.

In a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency intended to showcase his support for the intelligence community, Mr. Trump ignored his own repeated public statements criticizing the intelligence community, a group he compared to Nazis just over a week ago.

He also called journalists “among the most dishonest human beings on earth,” and he said that up to 1.5 million people had attended his inauguration, a claim that photographs disproved.

[...]

On Saturday, he said journalists were responsible for any suggestion that he was not fully supportive of intelligence agencies’ work.

“I have a running war with the media,” Mr. Trump said. “They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth, and they sort of made it sound like I had a feud with the intelligence community.”

[...]

Mr. Trump also took issue with news reports about the number of people who attended his inauguration, complaining that the news media used photographs of “an empty field” to make it seem as if his inauguration did not draw many people.

“We caught them in a beauty,” Mr. Trump said of the news media, “and I think they’re going to pay a big price.” [The New York Times, 1/21/17]

Trump Personally Attacked Time Reporter For Incorrect Tweet On MLK Jr. Bust, Even Though The Reporter "Quickly Acknowledged And Corrected The Mistake." During his CIA visit, Trump also personally attacked Time reporter Zeke Miller for “mistakenly reporting that a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office,” according to The Hill. Miller "quickly acknowledged and corrected the mistake." Trump said the incident demonstrated “‘how dishonest the media is.’” From the January 21 article:

President Trump on Saturday attacked a Time magazine journalist for mistakenly reporting that a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office.

Trump called out the reporter, Zeke Miller, while speaking to staff at the Central Intelligence Agency, even though Miller quickly acknowledged and corrected the mistake the previous day.

“They said that ‘Donald Trump took down the bust — the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King.’ But it was right there. There was a cameraman that was in front of it,” Trump said, standing in front of the CIA’s Memorial Wall honoring the employees who died in the line of duty.

“So Zeke, Zeke from Time magazine writes this story about ‘I took down’ — I would never do that because I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King.

“But this is how dishonest the media is,” Trump continued. “Now big story, the retraction was like, where? Was it a line or do they even bother putting it in?” [The Hill, 1/21/17]

Press Secretary Sean Spicer Falsely Claimed Media “Engaged In Deliberately False Reporting” On Inauguration Crowd Size. In his first official statement from the White House press briefing room on January 21, White House press secretary Sean Spicer claimed that “some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting,” again attacking Miller for his “irresponsible and reckless” tweet about the Martin Luther King Jr. bust. He also falsely claimed that media reported “inaccurate numbers involving crowd size” at the inauguration and falsely claimed, “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration -- period.” Spicer added, “We're going to hold the press accountable.” From Politico’s transcript:

SEAN SPICER: Yesterday, at a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power and, as the President said, the transition and the balance of power from Washington to the citizens of the United States, some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting. For all the talk about the proper use of Twitter, two instances yesterday stand out.

One was a particular egregious example in which a reporter falsely tweeted out that the bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. had been removed from the Oval Office. After it was pointed out that this was just plain wrong, the reporter casually reported and tweeted out and tried to claim that a Secret Service agent must have just been standing in front of it. This was irresponsible and reckless.

Secondly, photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall. This was the first time in our nation's history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall. That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual. This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past.

Inaccurate numbers involving crowd size were also tweeted. No one had numbers, because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out. By the way, this applies to any attempts to try to count the number of protestors today in the same fashion.

We do know a few things, so let's go through the facts. We know that from the platform where the President was sworn in, to 4th Street, it holds about 250,000 people. From 4th Street to the media tent is about another 220,000. And from the media tent to the Washington Monument, another 250,000 people. All of this space was full when the President took the Oath of Office. We know that 420,000 people used the D.C. Metro public transit yesterday, which actually compares to 317,000 that used it for President Obama's last inaugural. This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration -- period -- both in person and around the globe. Even the New York Times printed a photograph showing a misrepresentation of the crowd in the original Tweet in their paper, which showed the full extent of the support, depth in crowd, and intensity that existed.

[...]

The President is committed to unifying our country, and that was the focus of his inaugural address. This kind of dishonesty in the media, the challenging -- that bringing about our nation together is making it more difficult.

There's been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable. And I'm here to tell you that it goes two ways. We're going to hold the press accountable, as well. The American people deserve better. And as long as he serves as the messenger for this incredible movement, he will take his message directly to the American people where his focus will always be. [Politico, 1/21/17; CNNMoney.com, 1/21/17]

January 22

Trump Team Refused To Send A Representative To CNN’s Sunday Show The Day After CNN Opted Not To Air The Spicer Presser Live. Trump and his team refused to send a representative to appear on CNN’s Sunday political talk show, State of the Union, while booking appearances on the major political talk shows on ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox Broadcasting Co. At the top of the January 22 edition of CNN’s State of the Union, host Jake Tapper said that his show “asked the Trump White House for a member of the new administration to join us this morning, but they declined.” The refusal came a day after CNN chose not to air the live feed of Spicer’s press conference. [Media Matters, 1/22/17]

White House Chief Of Staff Reince Priebus: “There’s An Obsession By The Media To Delegitimize This President, And We Are Not Going To Sit Around And Let It Happen.” Making an appearing on Fox News Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus attempted to spin a question about Spicer’s press conference by lashing out at media reporting. When asked why Trump would bring up crowd size, Pribus replied that “it’s not about crowd size. It’s about honesty in the media.” Priebus continued to lash out at the media, claiming that “there's an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president, and we are not going to sit around and let it happen. We’re going to fight back tooth and nail every day, and twice on Sunday.” Like Trump and Spicer, Priebus also brought up Miller’s mistaken tweet to try to cast blame on the media at large:

CHRIS WALLACE (HOST): President Trump said in his inaugural address that every decision he makes will be to benefit American families. How does arguing about crowd size do that?

REINCE PRIEBUS: Because it’s really not about crowd size. What it’s about is honesty in the media.

[...]

WALLACE: Wait a minute, he could have given a news conference yesterday, talked about the agenda, talked about the signing, the executive actions he's going to sign, his legislative agenda. He talks about crowd size. Let me ask you about one --

PRIEBUS: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Let's back up. We didn't tweet out that MLK Jr.'s bust was removed from the Oval Office. We didn’t --

[CROSSTALK]

WALLACE: Wait a minute, the reporter made a mistake, he apologized. And Spicer sent him a tweet back saying "apology accepted".

PRIEBUS: Right, so these are the mistakes that are made. A reporter shoots first, aims later. I think the magnitude --

WALLACE: Are you saying there's a conspiracy here?

PRIEBUS: I’m saying there's an obsession by the media to delegitimize this president, and we are not going to sit around and let it happen. We’re going to fight back tooth and nail every day, and twice on Sunday. [FoxNews.com, 1/22/17; Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox News Sunday, 1/23/17]

Kellyanne Conway: If The Press Is “Going To Keep Referring To Our Press Secretary In Those Terms, I Think We're Going To Have To Rethink Our Relationship Here.” Counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, speaking to NBC host Chuck Todd, criticized Todd for saying Spicer uttered a “provable falsehood” at his press briefing, saying, “Chuck, if we're going to keep referring to our press secretary in those types of terms, I think we're going to have to rethink our relationship here.” Conway defended Spicer’s press briefing, claiming that he simply gave “alternative facts” about the inauguration crowd size, and she attacked Miller for his tweet about the Martin Luther King Jr. bust. From the January 22 edition of NBC’s Meet the Press:

CHUCK TODD (HOST): You make a very reasonable and rational case for why crowd sizes don't matter, then explain -- you did not answer the question. Why did the president send out his press secretary, who's not just the spokesperson for Donald Trump, he also serves as the spokesperson for all of America at times. He speaks for all of the country at times, why put him out there for the very first time in front of that podium to utter a provable falsehood? It's a small thing, but the first time he confronts the public, it's a falsehood?

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Chuck, if we're going to keep referring to our press secretary in those types of terms, I think we're going to have to rethink our relationship here. I want to have a great, open relationship with our press. But look what happened the day before, talking about falsehoods. We allowed the press to come into the Oval Office and witness President Trump signing executive orders. Of course the Senate just confirmed General Mattis and General Kelly to their two posts, and we allow the press in, and what happens almost immediately? A falsehood is told about removing the bust of Martin Luther King Jr. from the Oval Office. That's just flat out false.

TODD: And it was corrected immediately. But Kellyanne --

CONWAY: But, Chuck, why was it said? Chuck, why was it said in the first place? Because everybody is so presumptively negative --

TODD: I don't know. Climb into the head of that reporter.

CONWAY: Oh no, no, no, that reporter was writing on behalf of the press pool. That falsehood, that spread 3,000 times before it was corrected. And it's still out there.

TODD: Excuse me, it does not excuse, and you did not answer the question --

CONWAY: I did answer your question.

TODD: No you did not. You did not answer the question of why the president asked the White House press secretary to come out in front of the podium for the first time and utter a falsehood. Why did he do that? It undermines the credibility of the entire White House Press Office on day one.

CONWAY: No it doesn't, don't be so overly dramatic about it, Chuck. You're saying it's a falsehood, and Sean Spicer, our press secretary, gave alternative facts to that. But the point remains that there's --

TODD: Wait, wait, alternative facts? Alternative facts -- four of the five facts he uttered. The one thing he got right was Zeke Miller. Four of the five facts he uttered were just not true. Look, alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods. [NBC, Meet the Press, 1/22/17]

January 23

Conway: “Because Of What The Press Is Doing Now To Me ... We Have Packages Delivered To My House With White Substances.” During a January 23 interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Conway claimed that “because of what the press is doing now to me, I have Secret Service protection.” Conway also accused the press of having “presumptive negativity” about the Trump administration. From the January 23 edition of Hannity:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: The print pooler sent out the pool report that the MLK bust had been removed. It is false. I don’t say his name publicly because I don’t want him to get attacked like I do. Because of what the press is doing now to me, I have Secret Service protection. We have packages delivered to my house with white substances. That is a shame and, yes, I hold into account for it. This guy puts it out, it gets tweeted and it gets reported 3,000 times. You still can't take it back. He apologized to his colleagues in the press, he has not apologized to the president, and the damage is done because then people look at Donald Trump as the R-word. The darn bust was right there. I was standing next to it. It was being hidden by a guard. But why don't you ask us? Why don't you say, ‘Where's the bust?’ It's presumptive negativity. [Fox News, Hannity, 1/23/17]

Spicer: “The Default [Media] Narrative Is Always Negative, And That’s Demoralizing” And “Frustrating.” In his first full press briefing as White House press secretary, Spicer admonished the press for, what he perceived was a “constant theme” in the media “to undercut the tremendous support” for Trump. Spicer complained that the “default narrative is always negative,” calling the coverage “demoralizing” and “frustrating”:

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Monday launched into a lengthy defense of statements made by him and President Trump, and of criticisms of the president.

"The default narrative is always negative," Spicer said Monday during his first briefing in which he took questions. "And that's demoralizing."

Spicer lamented what he called a "constant theme to undercut the tremendous support" that Trump has, adding, "I think its just unbelievably frustrating when you're continually told it's not big enough; it's not good enough; you can't win." [NPR, 1/23/17]

Conway: “Proud” Of Spicer For “Hit[ting] Back” At Media’s “‘Constant Theme To Undercut’ Trump.” On January 23, Conway tweeted a link to a post on a right-wing website headlined “WATCH: Sean Spicer HITS BACK at 'constant theme to undercut' Trump by media,” adding that she was “proud” of Spicer.

January 24

Trump Called CNN "FAKE NEWS,", Attacked Them For Inauguration Ratings. In a January 25 tweet, Trump panned CNN for not having the highest inauguration ratings, calling them "FAKE NEWS" and suggesting the "public" was "smart" for not watching the network:

January 25

Trump Mocked Reporters For “Groveling” To Get A Story. During a January 25 interview with ABC’s David Muir, Trump falsely claimed that the author of a Pew report on voter registration inaccuracies provided evidence of voter fraud. When Muir fact-checked the president, saying that the Pew author said “they found no evidence of voter fraud,” Trump claimed the Pew author was “groveling again” and added “I always talk about the reporters that grovel when they write something that you want to hear but not necessarily millions of people want to hear, or have to hear.”

DONALD TRUMP: He is groveling again. You know, I always talk about the reporters that grovel when they write something that you want to hear but not necessarily millions of people want to hear, or have to hear. [ABC News, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir, 1/25/16]

Dan Scavino Tweeted “We Have Zero Interest In Sharing Security Measures With The Media” After NY Times Reported That Trump Tweets From An Unsecured Phone. Following a January 25 New York Times story that reported that Trump uses “his old, unsecured Android phone, to the protests of some of his aides,” White House social media director Dan Scavino tweeted, “We have zero interest in sharing security measures with the media- when it comes to various social media accounts.”

January 26

Trump: There's "Nothing Fair About The Media. Nothing." In a speech before congressional Republicans at a policy retreat, Trump criticized the press for "never giv[ing]" anti-abortion activists "the credit that they deserve," adding that there's "nothing fair about the media. Nothing." From the January 26 speech:

DONALD TRUMP: We've reinstated the Mexico City policy, a longstanding policy -- isn't that nice? And by the way, on Friday, a lot of people are going to be showing up to Washington, right Mike? A lot of people. You know, the press never gives them the credit that they deserve. They'll have 300, 400, 500, 600,000 people. You won't even read about it. When other people show up, you read big time about it. Right? So it's not fair, but nothing fair about the media. Nothing. [CNN, live remarks from President Donald Trump, 1/26/17]

Trump's Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon Demanded The Media "Keep Its Mouth Shut."The New York Times reported that Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, attacked the entire mainstream media as “the opposition party” in an interview. Bannon lambasted the media’s “humiliating defeat” in incorrectly predicting Trump would lose the election and demanded that media should “keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile”:

Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s chief White House strategist, laced into the American press during an interview on Wednesday evening, arguing that news organizations had been “humiliated” by an election outcome few anticipated, and repeatedly describing the media as “the opposition party” of the current administration.

“The media should be embarrassed and humiliated and keep its mouth shut and just listen for awhile,” Mr. Bannon said during a telephone call.

“I want you to quote this,” Mr. Bannon added. “The media here is the opposition party. They don’t understand this country. They still do not understand why Donald Trump is the president of the United States.”

[...]

“The elite media got it dead wrong, 100 percent dead wrong,” Mr. Bannon said of the election, calling it “a humiliating defeat that they will never wash away, that will always be there.”

“The mainstream media has not fired or terminated anyone associated with following our campaign,” Mr. Bannon said. “Look at the Twitter feeds of those people: they were outright activists of the Clinton campaign.” (He did not name specific reporters or editors.)

“That’s why you have no power,” Mr. Bannon added. “You were humiliated.”

While Mr. Bannon mostly referred to the “elite” or “mainstream” media, he cited The New York Times and The Washington Post by name.

“The paper of record for our beloved republic, The New York Times, should be absolutely ashamed and humiliated,” Mr. Bannon said. “They got it 100 percent wrong.”

He added that he has been a reader of The Times for most of his adult life. [The New York Times, 1/26/17]

Trump: "Much Of The Media ... Is Very, Very Dishonest. Honestly, It Is Fake News." Trump took issue with reporting on his trip to the CIA, complaining that the media demeaned his visit and lashing out at how the crowd's support was portrayed. During a January 26 interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, the president stated, "What I'm saying, Sean, is this: the media, much of the media, not all of it, is very, very dishonest. Honestly, it is fake news. It's fake, they make things up." From the January 26 interview:

DONALD TRUMP: There were like 300, 350 people in the room, over 1000 wanted to come. And if I took a vote right now, I would've won 350 to nothing, believe me, but even that was demeaned as much as they can demean it. What I'm saying, Sean, is this: the media, much of the media, not all of it, is very, very dishonest. Honestly, it is fake news. It's fake, they make things up. [Fox News, Hannity, 1/26/17]

January 27

Conway: It’s “Dangerous To The Democracy” For The Press To Call Out Trump’s Lies. On Fox & Friends, Conway suggested that “it’s dangerous to the democracy and for those around the world watching what we do and how this president is covered in his early days” for the press to call out Trump’s lies. Conway also agreed with co-host’s Steve Doocy’s claim that the press “would never do that to Barack Obama in a million years.” From the January 27 edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Plus there are some, Kellyanne, there are some reporters who are calling -- Kellyanne, there are some reporters in some newspapers that are just flat out calling the president a liar. They would never do that to Barack Obama in a million years.

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Even when he did. You can keep your doctor if you like, you can keep your insurance plan. We have 57 states in the nation. I mean, there were plenty of occasions to call out former presidents on their falsehoods and that was done very sparingly and not so strategically. I think it's dangerous to the democracy and for those around the world watching what we do and how this president is covered in his early days, very dangerous to just throw in adjectives like that, either without evidence, but also without context. And I think some of the coverage, in addition to -- bias is easy to detect. It's really the incomplete coverage that I’m watching very closely. It's, well, what's missing from the story? What was omitted? What's left on the cutting room floor that actually would inform the public factually about what's happening here? What an amazing week.

Spicer Criticized CNN For Calling Demonstrators At The March For Life "Demonstrators." Spicer took to Twitter on January 27 to criticize CNN’s coverage of the anti-choice March for Life, specifically taking issue with their reference to attendees as “demonstrators.” The New York Times’ Sopan Deb responded, “that is literally what they’re doing. Demonstrating.”

Trump: The Media Is "A Disgrace" And "The Opposition Party In Many Ways.” Trump told CBN host David Brody, “I think the media is the opposition party in many ways” during an interview released on January 27. The president added, “I’m not talking about everybody, but a big portion of the media, the dishonesty, total deceit and deception. It makes them certainly partially the opposition party, absolutely.” Trump concluded, “yes, the media is a disgrace, and they’ve called me wrong from the beginning.” From the Christian Broadcasting Network interview:

DAVID BRODY: “Steve Bannon, one of your top advisors just the other day, to the New York Times called the media the ‘opposition party.’ Do you believe that?

DONALD TRUMP: “I think to a large extent they’re much more capable than the other side.”

DAVID BRODY: “Other side, meaning?”

TRUMP: “Yeah, I think the media is the opposition party in many ways. And I think that, and I’m not talking about all of them. I know people, like yourself, but I know people in the media that I have tremendous respect for. Respect them as much as anybody, so I’m not talking about everybody, but a big portion of the media, the dishonesty, total deceit and deception. It makes them certainly partially the opposition party, absolutely. I think they’re much more capable than the opposition party. The opposition party is losing badly. Now the media is on the opposition party’s side. And I actually said to myself, I say they treat me so unfairly it’s hard to believe that I won. But the fortunate thing about me is I have a big voice. I have a voice that people understand. And you see it now. We’re bringing back jobs. Ford is making a massive investment now in Michigan, General Motors is going to be making just magnificent investments, so many other companies are coming back in. But yes, the media is a disgrace, and they’ve called me wrong from the beginning. [Christian Broadcasting Network, The Brody File, 1/27/17]

January 28

Trump Called Out "Failing" And “Dishonest” NY Times And Wash. Post For Their “False And Angry” Coverage Of Him. In a series of tweets on January 28, Trump lashed out at The New York Times,­ calling them "failing" and "FAKE NEWS." Trump also complained that coverage about him in the Times and The Washington Post was "false and angry," claiming their reporting was "DISHONEST." [Twitter, 1/28/17, 1/28/17, 1/28/17]

Conway: Why Haven't Members Of The Media Been Fired For Their Trump Coverage? Conway lamented that journalists have not been "let go" for their Trump coverage, stating: "Not one network person has been let go. Not one silly political analyst and pundit who talked smack all day long about Donald Trump has been let go." Conway added, "we know all their names." This came in response to her being asked about Bannon’s attacks on the press. From the January 29 edition of Fox Broadcasting Co.’s Fox News Sunday:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: Who’s cleaning house? Which one is going to be the first network to get rid of these people who said things that just weren't true.

[...]

Not one network person has been let go. Not one silly political analyst and pundit who talked smack all day long about Donald Trump has been let go. They’re on panels every Sunday, they’re on cable news every day. Who’s the first editorial writer, where's the first blogger that will be let go that embarrassed his or her outlets? We know all their names. I'm too polite to call them out by name, but they know who they are, and they’re all wondering, will I be the first to go. The election was three months ago. None of them have been let go. [Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox News Sunday, 1/29/17]

Trump: “Somebody With Aptitude And Conviction Should Buy The FAKE NEWS And Failing @NYTimes And Either Run It Correctly Or Let It Fold With Dignity!"

Spicer Defended Statements That The Media Are “The Opposition Party”: "There Are Stories And Journalists Who Start Off With A Negative Disposition" On Trump. Spicer defended claims from Trump and Bannon that the media are the opposition party, stating, "there are stories and journalists who start off with a negative disposition on how they are going to cover the president and his actions." In the same interview, Spicer said it was “absolutely” the case that a media outlet that accuses Trump of lying is acting like an opposition party. [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 1/29/17]

Trump Accused Media Of “Falsely Reporting” That His Executive Order Is A “Muslim Ban.” Trump on January 29 published a statement on his Facebook page regarding the executive order he signed that bans refugees, visitors, and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations, stating, “to be clear, this is not a Muslim ban, as the media is falsely reporting.” But on January 28, Rudy Giuliani, who served during the campaign as a top Trump surrogate and is now an informal adviser to the president, bragged that he crafted a legal version of Trump’s “Muslim ban.” [Facebook, 1/29/17; Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 1/28/17]

January 30

Trump Doubled Down On Claim That The Media Are “The Opposition Party.”

Spicer: Media Always “Lead With The Perceived Negative.” During a January 30 event at George Washington University, Spicer claimed that with media, "The lead is always the perceived negative." Spicer added, "It's never lead with the positive, it's always lead with the perceived negative." [C-SPAN, Media Coverage of the Trump Administration, 1/30/17]

Spicer Accused Media Of Spreading Misinformation About NSC And Faulty Reporting On Muslim Ban, Ridiculed Some Reporters’ Questions. During the January 30 White House daily press briefing, Spicer repeatedly complained about coverage of Trump’s memo on the National Security Council, saying: “Just yesterday, we called several outlets who were severely misreporting this topic to better inform them about what this memo means,” and later said any reporting that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was being taken off the National Security Council Principals Committee “is a spread of misinformation, plain and simple.” He later criticized American Urban Radio Networks’ White House correspondent April Ryan’s question about how much Trump values input from the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other intelligence or military officials as “unbelievable.” When asked a question about the failure to specifically mention Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Trump’s Holocaust Remembrance Day statement, Spicer dismissed “nitpicking” about this as “pathetic” and “ridiculous,” and accused many reporters of offending Christians in response to a Christmas statement released by the Republican National Committee. And when asked by NBC’s White House correspondent Kristen Welker about comments from former national security officials that the Muslim ban executive order will make America less safe, Spicer criticized people for allegedly not reading the text of the order -- which had not yet been posted on the White House’s website -- and instead getting information about it through “misguided media reports.” [White House Press Briefing, 1/30/17; 1/30/17; 1/30/17; 1/30/17]

January 31

Spicer Blamed NBC For “Confusion” Over Trump’s Muslim Ban And Cast Doubt On NY Times Reporting On DHS Secretary’s Knowledge Of It. During the January 31 White House daily press briefing, Spicer told NBC’s Kristen Welker that NBC was to blame for “confusion” surrounding Trump’s executive order, saying, “I think you have been part of the confusion. You have helped cause this.” Spicer also referred to reporting that Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was not fully briefed on the Muslim ban executive order until it was being signed as “misinformation,” and later said of this reporting, “I don’t believe the New York Times’ reporting is accurate.” [White House Press Briefing, 1/31/17; 1/31/17; 1/31/17]

Trump Campaign Text: “The Media Has Waged A Nasty Fight Every Day” Since Trump Was Sworn In, “Fight Back” And “Donate.” The Trump campaign sent a text message to supporters which said, “President Trump took office only 10 days ago and the media has waged a nasty fight every day. Fight back. Donate by the 11:59p deadline,” according to Politico reporter Gabriel Debenedetti.

February 2017

February 1

Trump Attacked CNN As “Fake News,” Reiterated Claim That Media Are “The Opposition Party.” In a meeting honoring Black History Month that was televised from the White House, Trump said that CNN was a “hostile” place for supporters of his, adding, “I don’t watch CNN. … I don’t like watching fake news.” Trump later repeated his claim the press are “the opposition party”:

DONALD TRUMP: A lot of the media is actually the opposition party. They're so biased. And really it's a disgrace. Some of the media is fantastic and fair. But so much of the media is opposition party and knowingly saying incorrect things. So it's a very sad situation. But we seem to be doing well. You know, it's almost like in the meantime, we won, so maybe they don't have the influence they think. But they really are, they really have to straighten out their act, they're very dishonest people. [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 2/1/17; 2/1/17]

Trump Said “The Press Can Be Very Demeaning,” But Expects Them To Be “Very Dignified” In Coverage Of His SCOTUS Nominee. As he made introductory remarks at a meeting with conservative advocacy groups who support his Supreme Court nominee, Trump said, “We want to have him go through an elegant process as opposed to a demeaning process because they're very demeaning on the other side, and they want to make you look as bad as possible. And, of course, the press can be very demeaning too, so -- but I'm sure the press will be very dignified in this case.” [CNN, Inside Politics, 2/1/17]

February 2

Conway Accused The Media Of "Inciting Mob Mentality If Not Mob Violence" With Its Coverage. According to Mediaite, while appearing on Premiere Radio Networks' The Sean Hannity Show, Conway accused the media of "inciting mob mentality, if not mob violence" with its coverage of the Trump administration by “not showing the President and his main spokespeople respect.” Conway added that media coverage “encourage[ed] people to go out there and unpeacefully protest.” As reported by Mediaite:

Explaining that she thought protesters largely had “a very low level of literacy” of the issues they were demonstrating in the name of, Conway explained she felt the tone of the coverage of Trump amplifies that anger of the protesters:

“It never took on the aura of respect that it deserved, and if you are not showing the President and his main spokespeople respect, then you’re not showing the office respect, and you are inciting mob mentality if not mob violence. You are encouraging people to go out there and unpeacefully protest and block airport entrances for people who are going to visit a sick parent and can’t make their flight, or are going for a bereavement call and can’t make their flight.” [Mediaite, 2/2/17]

February 3

Conway Complained That Media Failed To Cover A Nonexistent Massacre, Then Criticized NBC Reporter For Noting Her Error. On MSNBC’s Hardball, Conway lamented that there “was very little coverage” of the “Bowling Green Massacre” and that “most people don’t know” about it “because it didn’t get covered.” In fact, the so-called “Bowling Green Massacre” never happened. The next day, on February 3, Conway took to Twitter to call out an NBC reporter for not having “asked what I meant on Hardball before slamming me,” concluding that the reporter's actions were “not cool” and “not journalism.” From the February 2 interview:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: It's the seven countries that were previously identified by President Obama as being high risk, as being states that either harbor, train or export -- and/or export terrorism. These are nations very narrowly proscribed and also temporary.

CHRIS MATTHEWS (HOST): Sure.

CONWAY: I bet there was very little coverage, I bet it's brand-new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized, and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre.

MATTHEWS: Let's --

CONWAY: Most people don't know that because it didn't get covered. [MSNBC, Hardball with Chris Matthews, 2/2/17; Salon, 2/3/17]

February 4

Conway Defended Her Attacks On The Media In An Interview With Fox News. In a prerecorded interview on Fox’s MediaBuzz, Conway defended her February 2 claim that the media are “inciting mob mentality if not mob violence” by reporting on how the affected families of Trump’s Muslim ban were negatively impacted by the order. Dismissing many reporters as elitist, Conway told them how to properly report on the Trump administration, saying: “America didn't go to the fancy Ivy League schools like many in the media did. America doesn’t -- there are some people in the media their latte and dry cleaning bill for the year is basically what people earn in some of these districts and counties where Donald Trump won. ... Fast forward, why don't they go and they see who’s actually going to benefit and talk to the people who are [tangentially] going to benefit from Donald Trump keeping the factories here and not in Mexico and China?”

Later in the interview, Conway bashed the media for making errors and then posting corrections, and falsely claimed she “misspoke one word” when bringing up the nonexistent “Bowling Green massacre” on MSNBC which she had previously cited in several other interviews. Conway also used the interview to defend her January 29 suggestion that reporters be fired for their Trump campaign coverage.[Fox News, MediaBuzz, 2/5/17, 2/5/17; Media Matters, 2/7/17]

February 6

Trump: “Any Negative Polls Are Fake News, Just Like The CNN, ABC, NBC Polls In The Election.”

Trump: “In Many Cases, The Very, Very Dishonest Press Doesn’t Want To Report” On Terrorist Attacks. In an address to the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa, FL, Trump attacked the “very, very dishonest press” for supposedly “not even” reporting on terrorist attacks, adding that the press has “their reasons” for the alleged lack of coverage. From the February 6 address:

DONALD TRUMP: You’ve seen what happened in Paris and Nice. All over Europe, it’s happening. It’s gotten to a point where it's not even being reported, and in many cases, the very, very dishonest press doesn't want to report it. They have their reasons, and you understand that. So today we deliver a message in one very unified voice to these forces of death and destruction: America and its allies will defeat you. We will defeat them. [CNN, President Trump’s Address to U.S. CENTCOM, 2/6/17]

Trump And Spicer Ramped Up Criticism Of The NY Times, Called Its “So-Called Reporting” “Literally The Epitome Of Fake News." In a series of tweets from the president and during a press gaggle with Spicer, the administration continued to criticize The New York Times, taking aim at the newspaper for their Trump coverage. Trump tweeted that the Times “writes total fiction” about him, and claimed they were “making up stories & sources!” In a later tweet, Trump added that the Times' “poor reporting” on him had gotten “worse.” Echoing the president’s attacks on the newspaper during a press gaggle on Air Force One, Spicer lashed out over a New York Times report about Trump’s adjustment to living in the White House, calling the report “literally the epitome of fake news.” Spicer told reporters that the Times’s “so-called reporting” was “so riddled with inaccuracies and lies that they owe the president an apology”:

Mr. Spicer denounced The Time's account, published Sunday night, of the president’s turbulent adjustment to life in the White House. In particular, he zeroed in on one detail among a few paragraphs of the story that he insisted were wrong: that the president has worn a bathrobe while alone in the White House residence.

“That is literally the epitome of fake news,” Mr. Spicer told reporters traveling with Mr. Trump. “Start at the top. I don’t think the president owns a bathrobe. He definitely doesn’t wear one.”

The White House staff stocks the official residence with bathrobes.

Within moments of Mr. Spicer’s comment, reporters on Twitter posted photos of a much younger Mr. Trump lounging in a bathrobe.

Mr. Spicer added that the story was “so riddled with inaccuracies and lies that they owe the president an apology.” He went on, “Literally, blatant factual errors, and it’s unacceptable to see that kind of reporting or so-called reporting.” [The New York Times, 2/6/17]

February 7

Trump: “I Understand The Total Dishonesty Of The Media Better Than Anybody.” While taking questions at the White House, Trump repeatedly claimed the media are dishonest, stating “the media is a very, very dishonest arm,” and adding “there’s tremendous dishonesty. Pure outright dishonesty from the media”:

DONALD TRUMP: I happen to know how dishonest the media is. I happen to know that stories about me that should be good, or bad -- I don't mind a bad story if it's true, but I don’t like bad stories, stories that should be a positive story, when they make them totally negative, I understand the total dishonesty of the media better than anybody. And I let people know it. The media is a very, very dishonest arm, and we'll see what happens. Not everybody. And I have to say that. I always preface it by saying not everybody. But there's tremendous dishonesty. Pure outright dishonesty from the media. [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 2/7/17]

Trump Deputy Assistant Sebastian Gorka: Trump Administration Will Call Media “Fake News” Until "The Media Understands How Wrong" It Is "To “Attack” Trump. Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to Trump, said in a radio interview that the Trump administration is “‘going to continue to say, 'fake news'” because the media has a “‘monumental desire’” to “‘attack a duly elected President,’” according to CNN’s KFILE. Gorka added that the term would only stop being used when “the media understands how wrong that attitude is.” From the February 7 article:

Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, said Monday that the administration will continue using the term "fake news" until the media understands that their "monumental desire" to attack the President is wrong.

"There is a monumental desire on behalf of the majority of the media, not just the pollsters, the majority of the media to attack a duly elected President in the second week of his term," Gorka, a former Breitbart editor who also holds a PhD in political science, told syndicated conservative radio host Michael Medved.

"That's how unhealthy the situation is and until the media understands how wrong that attitude is, and how it hurts their credibility, we are going to continue to say, 'fake news.' I'm sorry, Michael. That's the reality," he added. [CNN.com, 2/7/17]

Trump Claimed The Media “Doesn’t Tell It Like It Is” In Their Violent Crime Reporting Because It’s “Not To Their Advantage.” Trump falsely claimed during a February 7 meeting with a group of sheriffs that “the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years,” and alleged that people were unaware of the high murder rate because “the press ... doesn’t tell it like it is,” erroneously suggesting that the media falsifies statistics on violent crime because of ulterior motives. [The Washington Post, 2/7/17]

Trump Again Called Media Reporting “Fake News” And Complained About “The Level Of Dishonesty” In The Media. As part of his pre-Super Bowl interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly that aired on February 7, Trump said that each day, “I read the papers, I see what is going on, I take a look. I see the lies, you know, the lies,” before continuing, “I call it, you know, fake news. Some of the networks and some of the papers -- the level of dishonesty, where they'll take a story that should be good ... and they will purposely totally change it. It is fake news.” [Fox News, The O’Reilly Factor, 2/7/17]

Bannon: Media Are “Too Dumb And Too Lazy To Actually Do Any Work.” During a February 7 conference call with New York magazine’s Olivia Nuzzi, Bannon dismissed reports that he and Priebus have been at odds in the Trump White House, claiming that such suggestions had been made up by the media, which he called "the opposition party," because “‘they’re too dumb and too lazy to actually do any work.’” [New York magazine, 2/9/17]

February 8

Trump To Police Chiefs: “Don’t Let The Dishonest Media Try And Convince You” That America’s Youth Doesn’t Respect Law Enforcement. In February 8 remarks to police chiefs in Washington, DC, Trump again called the media “dishonest,” telling those in the room, "don't let the dishonest media try and convince you that" Americans don't have respect for law enforcement:

DONALD TRUMP: You're the role models to young Americans all across this country, many of whom want to go into law enforcement, many of whom want to be a sheriff or a police chief. Many of whom -- they have great respect for you, tremendous respect. You don't even realize it, but I will tell you, they have great respect and admiration for the people in this room and the people that you represent. And don't let anyone ever tell you different. Don't let the dishonest media try and convince you that it's different than that, because it's not. [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 2/8/17]

Omarosa Manigault “Physically Intimidated” A White House Reporter, Called Report On Intimidation “Fake News.” Omarosa Manigault, who serves as the director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison in the Trump administration, “physically intimidated” April Ryan, the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks. Washington Post reporter Abby Phillip witnessed part of the exchange. Ryan said that Manigault “stood right in my face like she was going to hit me” and that “she felt Manigault’s behavior was so threatening that it was ‘Secret Serviceable,’ meaning that it rose to the level of law enforcement intervention.” According to the Post, “the argument apparently stemmed from emails that Manigault sent to Ryan during the presidential campaign.” When asked about the story, Manigault responded, “My comment: Fake news!” Hours after the Post story was published, Manigault tweeted, “Thank you for not buying the (sic) all the #FakeNews from MSM!!” [The Washington Post, 2/13/17; Twitter, 2/13/17]

February 9

Trump Lashed Out At CNN’s Chris Cuomo For His Interview With Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Calling It “FAKE NEWS!”

Trump Called CNN “Fake News” In Telephone Conversation With The Associated Press. The Associated Press (AP) reported on February 9 that during a recent telephone conversation, “Trump briefly put down the phone so he could turn up the volume on a CNN report. When he returned to the call, he was complaining about ‘fake news.’" [The Associated Press, 2/9/17]

February 10

Trump Erroneously Criticized The Supposedly "Failing” NY Times Over Its “Major FAKE NEWS China Story.” Trump lashed out at the supposedly "failing" New York Times on Twitter, claiming that the paper ran a story which said that Trump and President Xi Jinping of China had "'not spoken ... since Nov. 14,'" despite the fact that they spoke on February 9. However, the story was updated after the call, reading that the leaders spoke "Thursday evening" about the "One China policy." The story also stated that until that call, the leaders "had not spoke ... since Nov. 14."

Spicer Said The Administration “Continued To Be Disgusted By CNN’s Fake News Reporting.” When CNN reached out to Spicer for comments on its report that multiple U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials had independently corroborated “some” of the details in the 35-page dossier on President Trump’s connections to Russia, Spicer said, “We continue to be disgusted by CNN's fake news reporting." He later called CNN back and added: "This is more fake news. It is about time CNN focused on the success the President has had bringing back jobs, protecting the nation, and strengthening relationships with Japan and other nations. The President won the election because of his vision and message for the nation." [CNN.com, 2/10/17]

February 11

Trump Claimed Daughter Ivanka Was “Abused And Treated So Badly By The Media.”

Trump Falsely Accused “FAKE NEWS @CNN” Of Cutting Off Sen. Bernie Sanders. Trump tweeted: “While on FAKE NEWS @CNN, Bernie Sanders was cut off for using the term fake news to describe the network. They said technical difficulties!” CNN’s communications team called Trump’s tweet “false” and responded by showing a full transcript of the interview with Sen. Sanders, which shows Sanders clarifying he was joking and the interview returning after a commercial break:

Stephen Miller Attacked The Media In His Sunday Show Appearances. White House senior adviser Stephen Miller on ABC’s This Week on February 12 accused “you in the media” of “blowing this thing way out of proportion” when asked about Conway’s ethics violation for promoting Ivanka Trump’s fashion products on Fox. When asked on Fox News Sunday about whether we should “blame President Trump” if something happens to Judge James Robart, the federal judge who put a restraining order on Trump’s Muslim ban who is now “getting death threats” based on Trump’s tweet criticizing him, Miller called this line of questioning “reckless and irresponsible” and “one of the most ludicrous things that the media does.” [Media Matters, 2/13/17]

Sarah Huckabee Sanders Said Most Negative Stories Don’t Have “Legitimacy,” Claimed Jake Tapper’s Interview Of Conway “Wasn’t Journalism.” In a February 12 interview on Fox News’ MediaBuzz, White House deputy communications director Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that some negative stories about the Trump administration“may have a little bit of legitimacy, but as a whole, I really don’t think they do,” and that “it tells you … that the more that President Trump’s opponents go negative, he’s probably doing something right.” She later criticized CNN’s Jake Tapper for an interview with Conway, saying it “wasn’t journalism.” [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 2/12/17]

February 14

Trump Told FBI Director He “Should Consider Putting Reporters In Prison For Publishing Classified Information.” On May 16, The New York Times reported that Trump urged then-FBI Director James Comey to “consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information” during a February 14 meeting. From the report:

The Feb. 14 meeting took place just a day after Mr. Flynn was forced out of his job after it was revealed he had lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of phone conversations he had had with the Russian ambassador to the United States.

[...]

Alone in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump began the discussion by condemning leaks to the news media, saying that Mr. Comey should consider putting reporters in prison for publishing classified information, according to one of Mr. Comey’s associates.

Mr. Trump then turned the discussion to Mr. Flynn. [The New York Times, 5/16/17]

Bannon Lashed Out At Media, Referring To Them As “The Opposition Party.” In an interview with CNN about Spicer’s performance, Bannon claimed that the media’s narrative about Spicer is “‘totally and completely false.’” Bannon also dismissed leaks from the White House, suggesting that “‘the media, the opposition party’ was just making it up.” From the CNN report:

To a press corps frustrated with Spicer's aggressive attacks on reporters and tenuous relationship with the facts, the press secretary's imminent demise is a compelling narrative. But the most senior members of Trump's staff say the rumors are wrong.

"It's totally and completely false," Steve Bannon, the president's chief strategist, told me during a recent interview in the Roosevelt Room. "The President has full and total confidence in Sean."

Reince Priebus, Trump's chief of staff, told me the same: "The President has full confidence in Sean," he said. "What he thinks is that this is a media narrative that's B.S., that's what he thinks."

So where is the narrative coming from? Spicer declined to comment on the record for this article, but Bannon and Priebus dismissed the leaks about his fate as scuttlebutt from lower level staff. Or maybe "the media, the opposition party" was just making it up, Bannon said. [CNN, 2/15/17]

Trump: Michael Flynn Was “Treated Very, Very Unfairly” By “The Fake Media,” And That's "Really A Sad Thing.” During a February 15 joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump claimed ex-national security adviser Michael Flynn had been “treated very, very unfairly” by, “As I call it, the fake media in many cases.” Trump added, "I think it's really a sad thing that he was treated so badly." From the press conference:

DONALD TRUMP: Michael Flynn, General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he’s been treated very, very unfairly by the media. As I call it, the fake media in many cases. And I think it's really a sad thing that he was treated so badly. I think in addition to that, from intelligence, papers are being leaked, things are being leaked. It's criminal action, criminal act, and it's been going on for a long time before me, but now it's really going on. And people are trying to cover up for a terrible loss that the Democrats had under Hillary Clinton. I think it's very, very unfair what's happened to General Flynn, the way he was treated, and the documents and papers that were illegally -- I stress that -- illegally leaked. Very, very unfair. [CNN, Joint Press Conference with Benjamin Netanyahu, 2/15/17]

February 16

Huckabee Sanders: Trump’s FL Rally Is A Way To Get Around “The Biased Media.” According to a tweet from CBS News’ Mark Knoller, White House deputy communications director Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Trump’s campaign rally in Florida would be a way to get around “the biased media.”

Trump Accused The “Fake News Media” Of Undercovering The Current Economy. During a meeting with House Republican supporters, Trump accused the “fake news media” of undercovering the current economy, saying, “The fake news media doesn't like talking about the economy. I never see anything about the stock market sets new records every day, Chris, I never see that.” [CNN, At This Hour with Kate Bolduan, 2/16/17]

Trump Attacked The Media At Least 30 Separate Times In One Press Conference. At a spontaneous press conference on February 16, Trump attacked, blamed, mocked, and shut down the media, reporters, and coverage of his administration in at least 30 separate instances. In what was described as a “combative, grievance-filled press conference,” Trump claimed that reporters “will not tell you the truth” and speak “for the special interests,” attacked individuals like CNN reporter Jim Acosta and CNN CEO Jeff Zucker, and told a reporter that she was going to ask a “bad question” before she asked it. Trump also called various unfavorable stories “fake news,” “a joke,” and “disgraceful.” [Media Matters, 2/16/17]

Gorka Capped Off BBC Interview By Telling Interviewer That He “Just Committed Fake News.” In an interview with Evan Davis, presenter of BBC’s Newsnight, Gorka said it was “pathetic” that BBC would ask whether Trump’s press conference earlier in the day -- in which the president repeatedly attacked the press -- was “unhinged.” Gorka eventually said, “You’ve just committed fake news” when Davis asked for assurance that the administration wouldn’t take action against the press. [The Huffington Post, 2/17/17]

February 17

Trump: "The FAKE News Media (Failing @NYTimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) Is Not My Enemy, It Is The Enemy Of The American People!"

Priebus Defended Trump’s Comment That The Media Are “The Enemy Of The American People”: “I Think You Should Take It Seriously.” Priebus, appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation, repeatedly defended Trump’s February 17 tweet that the media are “the enemy of the American people,” telling host John Dickerson that “you should take it seriously.” Priebus defended Trump and his administration's labeling of the media as “the enemy” by complaining about what he called "bogus stories" and demanding news outlets “stop with this unnamed source stuff.” [CBS, Face the Nation, 2/19/17]

February 21

Huckabee Sanders: “I Rarely Use The New York Times As A Place To Go For A Credible Source.” Fox host Jenna Lee asked Sanders about a New York Times article that reported that career professionals on the National Security Council have “complained privately about being shut out of their areas of expertise and kept in the dark about important decisions” and that Trump aides have blamed them for leaks. In response, Sanders said, "Look, I rarely use The New York Times as a place to go for a credible source.” [Fox News, Happening Now, 2/21/17]

Spicer Defended Trump’s Statement Calling The Press “The Enemy Of The American People,” Claiming That Trump “Has Been Very Clear That Certain Outlets Have Gone Out Of Their Way To Not Represent His Record Accurately.” In the February 21 White House press briefing, Spicer defended Trump’s tweet that “the FAKE news media … is the enemy of the American People,” saying, “I think the president has been very clear that certain outlets have gone out of their way to not represent his record accurately, and it is a concern to him.” Spicer added that Trump “has a healthy respect for the press, but I think that it’s a two-way street, as I’ve also said before. And I think that the president understands that certain outlets have gone out of their way to not be completely accurate and fair in their coverage of what’s going on.” [White House Press Briefing, 2/21/17, via CNN]

February 23

Bannon Referred To Media As “The Opposition Party” During CPAC Appearance, Warning “It’s Going To Get Worse Every Day For The Media.” Bannon referred to the media as “the opposition party” during his joint CPAC appearance with Priebus, then said, “It's going to get worse every day for the media.” Bannon told the audience, “If you think they are giving you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken.” [Media Matters, 2/23/17; The Washington Post, 2/23/17]

Spicer Berated NY Times’ Glenn Thrush At A Press Briefing: “We’re Going To Raise Our Hand Like Big Boys And Girls.” Spicer responded to New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush’s attempts to interrupt him to ask a question during the daily White House press briefing by saying, “Glenn, this isn’t a TV program, we’re gonna … OK, you don’t get to just yell out questions, we’re going to raise our hand like big boys and girls.” [Twitter, 2/23/17]

February 24

Spicer Barred Major News Organizations From Press Gaggle In Favor Of Friendly Conservative Outlets. Spicer excluded major news organizations, including CNN, The New York Times, Politico, and BuzzFeed, along with many foreign news organizations, from a press gaggle in his office while allowing right-wing outlets Breitbart.com, The Washington Times, and OANN to attend. The Associated Press and Time magazine boycotted the gaggle in solidarity with the excluded outlets. [Media Matters, 2/24/17]

Trump Repeatedly Excoriated “Fake News” Media At CPAC, Doubled Down On Calling Them “The Enemy Of The People.” During his speech at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Trump referred to reports he didn’t like as “fake news” and again said the media “are the enemy of the people.” He said the press “shouldn’t be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody’s name,” repeatedly said some reporters are “terrible, dishonest people,” and claimed polls from the broadcast networks are “so inaccurate.” Trump concluded his remarks about the media by saying “the fake news doesn’t tell the truth” and “doesn’t represent the people.” [WhiteHouse.gov, 2/24/17]

February 27

Trump: The NY Times’ Intent Is “So Evil And So Bad.” In an interview with Breitbart News, Trump repeated his charge that “the fake media is the opposition party” and “the enemy of the American people.” He also complained that “the intent” behind The New York Times is “so evil and so bad,” because “they write lies.” From the Breitbart interview:

BNN [Breitbart News Network]: “The big thing I kind of wanted to zone in on right off the bat is ‘the opposition party,’ the media—“

POTUS: “There’s a difference. The fake media is the opposition party. The fake media is the enemy of the American people. There’s tremendous fake media out there. Tremendous fake stories. The problem is the people that aren’t involved in the story don’t know that.”

HICKS: “They said ‘Oh Donald Trump said the press is the enemy of the American people.’”

POTUS: “Right. They take ‘fake’ media off. They say ‘the media is the enemy of—well, they didn’t say the ‘fake media.’ I didn’t say the media is the enemy—I said the ‘fake media.’ They take the word fake out and all of a sudden it’s like I’m against—there are some great reporters like you. I know some great honorable reporters who do a great job like Steve [Holland] from Reuters, others, many others. I wasn’t talking about that. I was talking about the fake media, where they make up everything there is to make up.”

BNN: “Right and that’s what I wanted to zone in on with you because I know you made that very clear in your CPAC speech. Can you kind of more clearly define what standards and quality we should expect from those who are doing reporting?”

POTUS: “It’s intent. It’s also intent. If you read the New York Times, if you read the New York Times, it’s—the intent is so evil and so bad. The stories are wrong in many cases, but it’s the overall intent. Look at that paper over the last two years. In fact, they had to write a letter of essentially apology to their subscribers because they got the election so wrong. They did a front page article on women talking about me, and the women went absolutely wild because they said that was not what they said. It was a big front-page article, and the Times wouldn’t even apologize and yet they were wrong. You probably saw the women. They went on television shows and everything.”

BNN: “Yes, it was pretty embarrassing for the Times.”

POTUS: “[They said] ‘we really like Donald Trump and he [the Times reporter] totally misrepresented us. He said he was going to say good and it was absolutely bad.’ This was a front page article, almost the entire top half of the New York Times, and it was false. It was false. Did they apologize? No. I call them the failing New York Times and they write lies. They write lies. Nobody would know that. For instance, when people read the story on the women—first of all, the reporter who wrote the story has a website full of hatred of Donald Trump. So, he shouldn’t be allowed to be a reporter because he’s not objective. It’s not all, but it has many negative things about Donald Trump. But he shouldn’t be allowed to write on Donald Trump. And, he writes that story. But that’s one of many. So, when you read the Sunday New York Times, it’s just hit after hit after hit. And honestly, I think people are wise to it because if you look at the approval rating, you see it’s down. You know, it’s gone. There’s very little approval.” [Breitbart.com, 2/27/17]

February 28

Trump: “I Do Have To Go Around Some Media” Because It’s “Dishonest.” In an interview with Fox News' Fox & Friends, Trump said, “I do have to go around some media” using “Twitter and Facebook and all of the different things” because “dishonest media” are “putting it down differently from what I mean.” He went on to add that he wouldn’t use Twitter “if I felt the media were honest.” From the February 28 edition of Fox & Friends:

BRIAN KILMEADE (CO-HOST): Let's talk about your tweeting, if we could. You've attacked recently [Sen. John] McCain, the FBI, Democrats. Is there a method to the attacks, or is it just venting?

DONALD TRUMP: No method, really. It's not venting either. But I felt badly; when a young man dies and John McCain said that was a failed mission. According to General Mattis, it was a very successful mission. They got a lot of information, a lot of different things that they really wanted to get. And I thought it was inappropriate, and I thought it was inappropriate that he goes to foreign soil and he criticizes our government. I just think that’s just inappropriate, and people have to be careful with that. People really have to be careful with that. But it does allow me to go around dishonest media. I don't have to go around you folks, I don’t have to go around a lot of the media, but I do have to go around some media. And it does allow me to do that because the following is so large. Between Twitter and Facebook and all of the different things, I have so many millions of people. It allows me to give a message without necessarily having to go through people where I’m giving them a message and they’re putting it down differently from what I mean.

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): A lot of people like it. They say you’re tough. They’re glad you’re going after people when they attack you. But you have people on both side of the aisles that are saying you are going after enemies on Twitter, they want you to stop it. Will you?

TRUMP: Well most of the people that want me to stop it are the enemies. I'll be honest with you. The enemies would like me to stop it. If I felt the media were honest, all of it or most of it, I wouldn't do it. But it's a modern-day form of communication, especially when you have tens of millions of people like I have. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 2/28/17]

March 2017

March 1

Pence Dodged When Asked If The Administration Will End Its “War On The Media” And Defended Trump Calling The Press The “Enemy Of The People.” When asked by MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski whether the administration’s “the war on the media” is over and if Trump will continue to claim news outlets and stories are “fake news,” Vice President Mike Pence downplayed the administration’s aggression toward the press, characterizing it as “a willingness to call out the media when they play fast and loose with the facts.” Pence then defended Trump calling the media “the enemy of the people,” saying the media was pushing several “baseless and fabricated stories.” [MSNBC, Morning Joe, 3/1/17]

Spicer Singled Out Politico, CNN, New York Times, And NBC As Outlets He Feels Have Been Unfair To The Administration. In an article detailing a March 1 interview with Sean Spicer, The Daily Caller noted that Spicer did “not hide his distaste for certain journalists he believes are unfair to the administration or inaccurate in their reporting.” Without naming specific journalists, Spicer stated, “‘I think that there are some folks at Politico that have clearly done some stuff," adding "there are some reporters at CNN. There are some reporters at New York Times. I’ve had my issues with NBC. Again, I think it comes down to specific reporters and specific stories.’” He also explained, according to The Daily Caller, that “he tends not to ‘reward reporters’ who have wronged him in the past.” [The Daily Caller, 3/1/17]

White House Accused Media Of A "Double Standard" On The Use Of Anonymous Sources After Trump’s Baseless Wiretapping Allegation. Conway and Sanders both made morning show appearances accusing media outlets of engaging in a “double standard” regarding their use of anonymous sources. Both tried to spin the conversation away from Trump's claim instead faulting the media for questioning Trump’s lack of sources for his allegation that former President Barack Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower. On Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Conway said, “We have this double standard for anonymous sources. The media love to use anonymous sources for anything and everything that could possibly be derogatory or negative for this president and his administration. And yet, they refuse to give any credibility to such sources when it may be something positive or exculpatory.” And on NBC’s Today, Sanders said, “The media loves to create this false narrative against the current president but is so quick to dismiss anything under the past administration. If the president walked across the Potomac, the media would report that he couldn't swim. All we're asking is that the same standard be applied to this president as the past president.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 3/6/17; NBC, Today, 3/6/17]

March 7

Trump Referred To News Stories About White House Staff Conflicts As “FAKE NEWS.” Trump tweeted that stories highlighting infighting in his administration are “FAKE NEWS.” This came after a March 5 Politico article, which cited more than a dozen sources, wrote that administration officials were unhappy with Priebus and blamed him for bad management in the White House:

Special Assistant Boris Epshteyn Threatened Fox News With White House Boycott After Being Grilled On Muslim Ban.Politico reported on March 7 that Boris Epshteyn, a White House special assistant, "threatened earlier this year to pull all West Wing officials from appearing on Fox News after a tense appearance on anchor Bill Hemmer’s show." Epshteyn, whose "official job is to oversee White House officials who appear on television to speak on behalf of the administration," yelled at a Fox booker and made the threat after being pressed about Trump's original Muslim ban while on air. According to Politico, the White House did not follow up on Epshteyn’s threat to have the administration boycott the network. [Politico, 3/7/17]

Conway Defended Trump Calling Press “Enemy Of The American People”: Media Have A “Responsibility” To “Not Be Presumptively Negative.” Conway appeared on Fox News’ MediaBuzz and defended Trump's labeling of news organizations whose coverage he dislikes as the “enemy of the American people,” arguing that media outlets have a “responsibility” to not be “presumptively negative” in their coverage of the president. From the March 12 edition of Fox News’ MediaBuzz:

HOWARD KURTZ (HOST): You deal with journalists all the time. And the majority of the coverage of this president, I’ve said this over and over again, has been negative. There is no getting around it, whether it’s justified, we can debate. Doesn't it make your job harder when the president names CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, and The New York Times, and says, “enemy of the American people?”

KELLYANNE CONWAY: The president has made very clear that he would like to have a good relationship with the press. But it's a two-way street. And we believe in a fair and free press. But with a fair and free press comes responsibility. And the responsibility is also to not be presumptively negative at every turn.

[...]

And I think by any quantitative, objective analysis, the coverage of this president has been so presumptively negative and unfair and incomplete. And no, this is not a comment on the biased media. It’s not what we’re saying. We’re just saying, if he’s had 34, 35 executive actions in the first 50 days, why is everybody covering one or two? [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 3/12/17]

March 13

Trump: "It Is Amazing How Rude Much Of The Media Is To My Very Hard Working Representatives. Be Nice, You Will Do Much Better!"

March 14

White House Blasted MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow And “Dishonest Media” For Reporting On “Illegally Published” 2005 Tax Documents. Following an announcement on Twitter by MSNBC host Rachel Maddow that she was going to be covering a leaked Trump tax return on her show, the White House released a statement attacking her and the “dishonest media” for reporting on the “illegally published return”:

You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago.

Before being elected President, Mr. Trump was one of the most successful businessmen in the world with a responsibility to his company, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required. That being said, Mr. Trump paid $38 million dollars even after taking into account large scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million dollars, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes and this illegally published return proves just that.

Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns. The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the President will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans. [Twitter, 3/14/17, 3/14/17]

March 15

Trump Accused MSNBC Report On Tax Documents Of Being “FAKE NEWS” After White House Confirmed Them. Trump tagged NBC News in a tweet labeling reporting on his partial 2005 tax return on MSNBC the previous night as “FAKE NEWS,” despite the fact that the White House confirmed the figures before the report:

Secretary Of State Rex Tillerson Broke Decades Of Tradition By Preventing Major Media Outlets From Accompanying Him On Asia Trip. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson flew to Asia for a four-day trip with visits to Japan, South Korea, and China, accompanied only by a single reporter from the conservative media outlet Independent Journal Review. According to The Associated Press, Tillerson’s decision to travel “without a contingent of journalists or a designated pool reporter who would send reports to the broader diplomatic press corps, depart[s] from 50 years of practice and even from Tillerson's earlier official overseas trips to Germany and Mexico.” D.C. bureau chiefs from major news organizations sent a letter on March 7 to the State Department protesting this decision. [Media Matters, 3/15/17; The Associated Press, 3/14/17; Poynter, 3/9/17]

Trump Decried “Fake News” Reports On Border Wall, Called Media “Bad People” At Rally. In a campaign-style speech delivered in Nashville, TN, Trump attacked the press, claiming, “Some of the fake news said, I don’t think Donald Trump wants to build the wall. Can you imagine if I said we’re not going to build a wall? Fake news. Fake, fake news. Fake news, folks. A lot of fake.” Later, in an apparent reference to the reporters covering his rally, Trump said, “they’re bad people, folks. They’re bad people.” [WhiteHouse.gov, 3/15/17]

Trump Blasted “The Fake Press” For “Despicable” Coverage In Fox News Interview. During an interview with Fox’s Tucker Carlson, Trump lambasted NBC News for being “despicable in their coverage” of him, despite having made “a fortune for NBC with The Apprentice.” He went on to call CBS and ABC “the fake press, the fake media.” Trump also suggested he doesn’t respect “the failing New York Times” despite citing it as a source for his baseless claim that the Obama administration wiretapped him during the 2016 presidential election. Trump also explained that he used Twitter because, “I get such a ... dishonest press.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 3/15/17, 3/15/17]

Trump Called CNN “Fake News” In Fox Interview. In an interviews on Fox News’ Watters’ World recorded on March 15, Trump said “CNN is just fake news.” [Fox News, Watters’ World, 3/18/17]

March 17

Trump: “Fake Media” Has “Not Been Speaking Properly About How Great” The GOP Health Care Bill Will Be. Trump claimed that the press “has not been speaking properly about how great” the Republican’s alternative to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is going to be, adding the “fake media” was trying to “say good things about” the ACA because “it's on its last dying feet.” From the March 17 White House event:

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I want everyone to know I'm 100 percent behind this. I want everybody to know that the press has not been speaking properly about how great this is going to be. They have not been giving it a fair press. The press is, well, as you know, in many cases, I call it the fake news. It's fake news. This is going to be great for people. I watch, I say that's not the bill we're passing. And I also want everyone to know that all of these nos or potential nos are all yes's. Every single person sitting in this room is now a yes. And we've made certain changes. And very -- frankly, very little, although the block grant is very important, because I want the states to get the money and to run their program if they want to run it. Because they could do it better than the federal government. They're better equipped than the federal government. I also want people to know that Obamacare is dead. It's a dead health care plan. It's not even a health care plan, frankly. And I watched the architect of the plan yesterday, I watched the old clip where he said the American people are stupid to have voted for it. I watched Bill Clinton saying, "This is the craziest thing I've ever seen." And only because everyone knows it's on its last dying feet, the fake news is trying to say good things about it, OK? Fake media. And there is no good news about Obamacare. Obamacare's dead. [White House Event, 3/17/17, via CNN]

Tillerson Excluded Media Pool From Korea Meeting, But Allowed Fox News In. Poynter reported that “During his trip to the Korean Demilitarized Zone Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson excluded the pool reporter representing U.S. networks from a meeting, allowing a team from Fox News to be admitted instead.” Additionally, "During the trip, the State Department also withheld access to meetings and a lunch with troops." Poynter explained that “Poolers, journalists who gather news for the entire press corps, are generally admitted to meetings with U.S. diplomats when they travel abroad.” [Poynter, 3/17/17]

Trump: Outlet That Labeled Him An Isolationist Is “Fake News.” During his joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump said in response to a question from a German reporter, “I am not an isolationist by any stretch of the imagination. So I don't know what newspaper you're reading, but I guess that would be another example of, as you say, fake news.” [WhiteHouse.gov, 3/17/17]

March 18

Trump: “Despite What You Have Heard From The FAKE NEWS, I Had A GREAT Meeting With German Chancellor Angela Merkel.”

Spicer Belittled David Cay Johnston For Reporting On Leaked Trump Tax Return, Attacked NBC For Airing Report On It. On Fox’s MediaBuzz, Spicer responded to MSNBC’s reporting on leaked 2005 Trump tax documents by attacking David Cay Johnston, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who received the leak tax return and shared it with other media outlets. Spicer tried to discredit Johnston as “a former reporter who’s now running a blog that I’m sure gets minimal traffic” and who was “let go from The New York Times.” Spicer added, “NBC News cross[ed] the line when it came to publishing this and promoting it,” and that the network “perpetuate[d] a false narrative about where it came from.” [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 3/19/17]

March 20

Trump: “The Fake Media” Hasn’t “Told The Truth About Obamacare.” Trump, during a speech in Kentucky, said that “somebody from the fake media the other day asked me a question” about Republicans being unified. Later in the speech, while criticizing the Affordable Care Act, Trump claimed, “you watch the fake media, the fake news, and they try and build it up, it's a disaster fellas,” and insinuated that the media does not tell “the truth about Obamacare.” [Trump speech in Kentucky, 3/20/17, 3/20/17, via Fox News]

March 21

Trump: “The Fake Media” Corrects Me When I’m “Off By One Hundredth Of A Percent.” Trump criticized “the fake media” for correcting him, even “if it’s off by one hundredth of a percent,” and complained that he “end[s] up getting Pinocchios.” From Trump’s March 21 speech:

DONALD TRUMP: We have so much potential. I see it now even more than I saw it in this great campaign, which turned out to be a movement. A movement like the world has never seen before, actually. You know, It’s funny, I’ve said that so often they don’t even correct me, the fake media. They never correct me, because it’s true. Believe me, if it’s off by one hundredth of a percent, it’s like, I end up getting Pinocchios, right? They don’t even correct me. One of the great movements of all time. [The Washington Post, 3/21/17]

March 22

Trump: The Wall Street Journal "Is A Part Of” The “Fake Media.” In a March 22 interview with Time magazine, Trump attacked The Wall Street Journal for a critical editorial published on March 21, saying that he “thought it was a disgrace that they could write that.” Trump added that “the Wall Street Journal is a part of” the so-called “fake media.” From Time’s March 23 article (emphasis original):

Did you see the Wall Street Journal opinion page today, the editorial page?

I thought it was, I thought it was a disgrace that they could write that.

But let me just, the hypothetical they started with, you have to announce to the country or to the world that some serious national security event has happened, and…

The country believes me. Hey. I went to Kentucky two nights ago, we had 25,000 people in a massive basketball arena. There wasn’t a seat, they had to send away people. I went to Tennessee four nights ago. We had a packed house, they had to send away thousands of people. You saw that, right. Did you see that?

Yes I did.

The country’s not buying it, it is fake media. And the Wall Street Journal is a part of it. [Time, 3/23/17]

March 23

Trump: “Just Watched The Totally Biased And Fake News Reports Of The So-Called Russia Story On NBC And ABC. Such Dishonesty!”

March 25

Trump Blocked Press Pool From Entering Trump International Hotel In Washington, Which Is Leased By The Federal Government. According to a tweet from Bloomberg’s Steven Dennis, the White House press pool was blocked, “once again,” from entering Trump’s Washington, DC, hotel, “which is leased to [Trump] by the federal government.”

Spicer Called A Politico Reporter “An Idiot.” In a March 25 email to a Breitbart.com reporter, Spicer called Politico reporter Tara Palmeri “an idiot with no real sources” for reporting that Trump was considering removing Priebus as chief of staff. [Breitbart.com, 3/26/17]

Spicer To Veteran Reporter April Ryan: “Stop Shaking Your Head.” During the March 28 press briefing, Spicer criticized reporter April Ryan for questions regarding the FBI investigation into collusion between the Trump team and Russia and for asking, “How does this administration try to revamp its image?” Spicer claimed Ryan had an “agenda,” and was “hell bent on trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays,” and told her “stop shaking your head.” [White House press briefing, 3/28/17, via CNN]

Spicer Said In Press Briefing Washington Post “Should Be Ashamed” Of “100 Percent False” Reporting. Spicer repeatedly criticized a Washington Post story about former acting Attorney General Sally Yates’ attempt to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, thrice calling it “100 percent false.” Spicer also suggested the newspaper “should be ashamed of how it handled this story,” and that he would "hate to give" the paper "the traffic" while saying evidence for his claim was on the Post's website. [WhiteHouse.gov, 3/28/17]

Trump Urged “Fake News” To Talk About Debunked Story Being Pushed By Fox. Trump tweeted, “Why doesn't Fake News talk about Podesta ties to Russia as covered by @FoxNews or money from Russia to Clinton - sale of Uranium?” The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler responded by tweeting out a link to a Post article debunking the claim Trump pushed.

White House Staff Announced They’d Join Trump In Boycotting Annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner. Spicer said in a statement that White House staff will be “standing in solidarity” with Trump’s decision to not attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. From the New York Daily News:

The White House staff is following President Trump’s lead in boycotting the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

That presumably means the President’s cabinet and White House press secretary Sean Spicer will be “standing in solidarity” with the President’s defiant decision to not cavort with the biggest names in journalism at the annual gala, citing "unfair" news coverage.

“We hope, including the President, that things improve and we can attend next year,” Spicer said in a statement on Tuesday. [New York Daily News, 3/28/17]

March 29

Trump Falsely Claimed “The Failing @NYTimes Apologized” After Election For Its Coverage. Trump claimed in a tweet that “the failing @nytimes apologized to its subscribers, right after the election, because their coverage was so wrong,” then claimed the paper’s coverage is “worse” now. But PolitiFact called Trump’s claim that The New York Times apologized for its coverage of him false in November.

March 30

Trump: “The Failing @NYTimes Has Disgraced The Media World. Gotten Me Wrong For Two Solid Years. Change Libel Laws?” Trump tweeted, “The failing @nytimes has disgraced the media world. Gotten me wrong for two solid years. Change libel laws?,” and linked to a New York Post article that criticized what it called “The New York Times’ ongoing dishonesty.”

March 31

Trump: Flynn Should “Ask For Immunity” Because The Russia Probes Are “A Witch Hunt” By “Media.” In an early morning tweet, Trump called the investigations into ties between his campaign and Russia “a witch hunt” by the “media & Dems” in order to defend his former National Security Advisor Mike Flynn’s decision to ask for immunity before testifying in the ongoing probes.

Conway: “The Mainstream Media Are Making Americans Suffer From Information Underload On All The Great Things The President Is Doing To Create Jobs.” On Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine, Conway complained that “the mainstream media are making Americans suffer from information underload on all the great things the president is doing to create jobs,” adding that Trump is “doing all these things that don’t get covered” by the press. From the April 1 edition of Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: If you look at the Russian obsession, these conclusions in search of evidence, it's as if those machines that develop the chyrons, the lower thirds, on other networks are broken. They say the same thing, show after show, day after day, and what’s happening is, the mainstream media are making Americans suffer from information underload on all the great things the president is doing to create jobs.

[...]

He’s creating jobs, he’s doing all these things that don’t get covered. Bilateral meetings and phone calls, and they don’t get covered. [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 4/1/17]

Trump: “I Don’t Have To Go To The Fake Media” Because Of His Social Media Following. In an interview with the Financial Times published on April 2, Trump claimed, “I don’t have to go to the fake media” because of his followers on “Facebook, Twitter, Instagram.” From the interview (emphasis original):

When I talk to CEOs in this country . . . half of them are saying ‘yes, this is great, we have confidence coming back’, and half of it is ‘God, what happens if he tweets about us and our stock goes down’.

Without the tweets, I wouldn’t be here . . . I have over 100m [followers] between Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Over 100m. I don’t have to go to the fake media. [Financial Times, 4/2/17]

April 3

Spicer Attempted To Dismiss ProPublica, An Investigative Journalism Nonprofit, As A “Left-Wing Blog.” When asked about a ProPublica report that Trump’s trust had been revised to allow him to withdraw money at any time without disclosing it to the public, highlighting again his continued ties to his businesses, Spicer claimed that he was "not aware of any change in the trust" and that "just because a left-wing blog makes the point of something changing, doesn't mean it actually happened." The report was later confirmed by a Trump Organization attorney. [White House Press Briefing, 4/3/17, ProPublica, 4/3/17]

April 5

Trump Criticized NBC’s Andrea Mitchell And NY Times As “Hillary Clinton’s P.R.” During an April 5 interview with The New York Times, Trump called NBC’s Andrea Mitchell “Hillary Clinton’s P.R. person.” Trump then added that the Times and its reporters had “been accused of that also.” [The New York Times, 4/5/17]

Trump: “The Fake News Immediately Went Crazy” Over Failed Health Insurance Bill. In an interview with Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo taped on April 11, Trump said “the fake news immediately went crazy” when he failed to deliver a vote on the Republican-backed American Health Care Act. [Fox Business, Mornings with Maria Bartiromo, 4/12/17]

April 12

Trump: “It’s Fake News And Fake Sources” When Major Media Outlets Cite Anonymous Sources Close To Him.New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin wrote that Trump told him that stories by major news outlets that cited anonymous sources were "fake news and fake sources.” Additionally, Trump called The New York Times “a failing, dead paper.” [New York Post, 4/12/17]

Spicer: “Some Folks” In The Media “Clearly Have An Agenda” And Are “Gunning” For Him. At the Newseum event The Press & The Presidency, Spicer was asked if he thinks “the press is fair to you or gunning for you,” and he replied, “I think some folks clearly have an agenda, some folks are open-minded, and some folks probably root for you. But there's sort of a spectrum.” [CSPAN2, Public Affairs Events, 4/12/17]

Tillerson Abandoned His Press Pool During Moscow Trip. CBS foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan tweeted that Tillerson “ditched his press pool” during his visit to the Kremlin in Moscow.

Trump: “Fake Media” Reporting He Changed His Stance On China. In an interview with Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt, Trump complained about the “fake media” saying he changed his stance on China because he wouldn't label the country a currency manipulator, even though he pledged to during the campaign:

AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): About China, some in the media are saying you softened your chance on China. Have they helped with the relationship with North Korea?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Ainsley, I didn't soften my stance. Look, China came to the United States, the president who I really developed a very good relationship with. I think he is a terrific person. I really got to know him very well over a two-day period. We were together hours, and hours, and hours by ourselves. We had a 15 minute scheduled meeting and it lasted for three hours. And the same thing happened the next day. We have a good chemistry together. He understands it's a big problem. He’s working on it. Now, what am I going to do? Start a trade war with China in the middle of him working on a bigger problem, frankly, with North Korea? So, I'm dealing with China with great respect. I have great respect for him. We'll see what he can do. Now, maybe he won't be able to help. That's possible. I think he’s trying. Maybe he won't be able to help. And that's a whole different story. So we’ll see what happens.

EARHARDT: It can't hurt.

TRUMP: No, but somebody said currency manipulation. What am I going to do in the middle of him talking with North Korea, I'm going to hit them with currency manipulation? This is the fake media that just does a number. Think of it. He’s working so nicely that many coal ships have been sent back. Fuel is being sent back. They're not dealing the same way. Nobody’s ever seen it like that. Nobody’s ever seen such a positive response on our behalf from China. And then the fake media goes, “Donald Trump has changed his stance on China.” I haven't changed my stance. China’s trying to help us. I don't know if they're going to be able to or not. But, would I want to start heavy, heavy trade or currency manipulation statements against somebody that’s out there right now trying to stop what could be a very bad situation? You understand that. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 4/18/17; CNN.com, 4/11/17]

April 19

Trump: “FAKE Media” Helped Democratic Candidate In Georgia Special Election For House Seat. After Democrat Jon Ossoff came in first place during the primary for the special election for a House seat from Georgia, Trump claimed that Ossoff had “FAKE media support”:

April 20

Trump: “Failing @NYTimes, Which Has Been Calling Me Wrong For Two Years, Just Got Caught In A Big Lie.” Trump tweeted that the “failing” New York Times “has been calling me wrong for two years” and “got caught in a big lie” when the newspaper’s sports section posted a tweet implying that fewer members of the New England Patriots attended a visit to the White House under Trump than under former President Barack Obama.

April 21

Trump: “I Get Such Dishonest Reporting" From The “Fake Media,” And It “Got More Nasty” After The Election. In an April 21 interview with the AP, Trump claimed that he gets "the worst press” and “dishonest reporting,” adding “I thought the press would become better" after the election, "and it actually, in my opinion, got more nasty." Trump also claimed that “I get treated very unfairly” by “the fake media.” From the interview:

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And the media, some of them get it, in all fairness. But you know some of them either don't get it, in which case they're very stupid people, or they just don't want to say it. You know because of a couple of them said, "He didn't call them a currency manipulator." Well, for two reasons. Number One, he's not, since my time. You know, very specific formula. You would think it's like generalities, it's not. They have — they've actually — their currency's gone up. So it's a very, very specific formula. And I said, "How badly have they been," ... they said, "Since you got to office they have not manipulated their currency." That's Number One, but much more important, they are working with us on North Korea. Now maybe that'll work out or maybe it won't. Can you imagine? …

[...]

TRUMP: You have to love people. And if you love people, such a big responsibility. (unintelligible) You can take any single thing, including even taxes. I mean we're going to be doing major tax reform. Here's part of your story, it's going to be a big (unintelligible). Everybody's saying, "Oh, he's delaying." I'm not delaying anything. I'll tell you the other thing is (unintelligible). I used to get great press. I get the worst press. I get such dishonest reporting with the media. That's another thing that really has — I've never had anything like it before. It happened during the primaries, and I said, you know, when I won, I said, "Well the one thing good is now I'll get good press." And it got worse. (unintelligible) So that was one thing that a little bit of a surprise to me. I thought the press would become better, and it actually, in my opinion, got more nasty.

[...]

I have learned one thing, because I get treated very unfairly, that's what I call it, the fake media. And the fake media is not all of the media. You know they tried to say that the fake media was all the, no. The fake media is some of you. I could tell you who it is, 100 percent. Sometimes you're fake, but — but the fake media is some of the media. It bears no relationship to the truth. It's not that Fox treats me well, it's that Fox is the most accurate. [The Associated Press, 4/23/17]

Trump: “New Polls Out Today Are Very Good Considering That Much Of The Media Is FAKE And Almost Always Negative.” Trump tweeted about part of an ABC News/Washington Post poll that found that 53 percent of Americans considered him to be a “strong leader” and reasoned that that was “very good considering that much of the media is FAKE and almost always negative.” [Twitter, 4/23/17; 4/23/17; The Washington Post, 4/23/17]

April 24

April 25

April 28

Trump Told Washington Examiner “The Fake Media” Is Pushing “Faux” Russia Ties Story. In an April 28 interview with the Washington Examiner Trump was questioned about reports that Trump’s campaign team’s ties to Russia are still in the news. In response, Trump accused “the fake media” of pushing the “faux story,” and said “they should be ashamed of themselves.” [Washington Examiner, 4/28/17]

Trump Complained To Fox About “All The Faux Press And The Fake Press” Surrounding “‘The Fake Russia Story.’” In an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Trump praised himself for his approval numbers “in light of all the faux press and the fake press,” of which he said: “Fox has been fair, but every network you you see hits me on every topic, made up stories like Russia.” [Fox News, The First 100 Days, 4/28/17]

April 29

Trump Tweeted, “Mainstream (FAKE) Media Refuses To State” His Accomplishments During The First 100 Days Of His Presidency.

Pence Derided Journalists As “Willing Allies” Of “Left-Wing Activists.” Before Trump took the stage at a Pennsylvania rally, Pence said, “left-wing activists and their willing allies in the media, while they’ve been ignoring the facts and spreading that fake news, the American people know the truth." The Hill reported that these remarks “signaled ongoing tensions between the Trump administration and members of the press.” [The Hill, 4/29/17]

Trump Attacked The Press At Rally He Held During Boycott Of White House Correspondents Association Dinner. The BBC reported that Trump “launched a scathing attack on the media during a rally marking 100 days in office”:

He told supporters in Pennsylvania that he was keeping "one promise after another", dismissing criticism as "fake news" by "out of touch" journalists.

Mr Trump decided to skip the White House Correspondents' Dinner - the first US leader to miss the event since an injured Ronald Reagan in 1981.

[...]

Mr Trump's approval ratings hover at around the 40% mark - believed to be lower than any other president at the 100-day marker.

At the rally in Harrisburg, the president said the media should be given "a big, fat, failing grade" over their coverage of his achievements during his first 100 days and told the cheering crowd he was "thrilled to be more than 100 miles from Washington".

He quipped that at the same time "a large group of Hollywood actors and Washington media are consoling themselves" at the correspondents' dinner "that will be very boring". [BBC, 4/30/17]

April 30

Priebus Admitted The Trump Administration Has Looked At Changing The Press’ Constitutional Protections. In an interview on ABC’s This Week, when asked if Trump is going to pursue a constitutional amendment to “change the libel laws” in America, Priebus said, “I think it’s something that we’ve looked at,” then repeatedly attacked news reports on the Trump campaign team’s ties to Russia. [ABC, This Week, 4/30/17]

Trump Called CBS Sunday Morning Show Face The Nation “Deface The Nation” During Interview With Show Host. In an interview on CBS’ Face the Nation, Trump told host John Dickerson that “sometimes” his show is “fake media,” saying, “I call it Deface the Nation.” He later suggested that the biggest thing he learned about being president is “how dishonest the media is,” prompting Dickerson to say, “surely, you’ve learned something else other than that the media is dishonest.” [CBS, Face the Nation, 4/30/17]

Spicer Repeatedly Defended Various Trump Attacks On News Organizations. In an interview on Fox’s MediaBuzz Spicer defended Trump calling polls by major news organizations “fake,” justified Trump’s claim that he won’t watch CNN or MSNBC because they’re “unfair” to him, and accused some reporters of having an anti-Trump agenda. [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 4/30/17]

May 2017

May 1

Trump: “I’m Against The Fake Media.” During an interview with Fox host Eric Bolling, Trump said he was “against the fake media,” and suggested that CNN’s coverage of him has been “negative” and that the media doesn’t “tell it like it is.” From the May 1 edition of Fox News’ The Fox News Specialists:

ERIC BOLLING: I assume when you say “fake news,” you feel they don't cover you fairly. That’s what you mean by “fake news.”

DONALD TRUMP: Yeah and I’m not talking -- not all of the media. I’ll tell you, just that is unfair the way they cover me because they say, “The media, I’m against the media.” I'm not against the media. I'm against the fake media. If you look at CNN, the way they cover me, no matter what you do, it’s negative. Hits, hits. So I love the media. I think the media’s great and if I do something bad, treat me badly. But they don't tell it like it is.[Fox News, The Fox News Specialists, 5/1/17]

May 2

Trump Campaign Tried To Air Ad Labeling Media “Fake News.” The Trump campaign created a campaign ad on CNN labeling media figures including Andrea Mitchell, Wolf Blitzer, and Rachel Maddow “fake news.” CNN refused to air the ad, saying in a statement, “‘The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false and per policy will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted.’’ The campaign in response called CNN’s blocking of the ad “absolutely shameful.” From a May 2 Politico article:

CNN declined to air an ad by President Donald Trump's campaign because it included a graphic that called the mainstream media "fake news," the network said Tuesday.

Trump's campaign committee had blasted CNN, saying the network refused to run an ad about the first 100 days of the Trump administration.

“It is absolutely shameful to see the media blocking the positive message that President Trump is trying to share with the country. It's clear that CNN is trying to silence our voice and censor our free speech because it doesn't fit their narrative," Michael Glassner, executive director of the campaign committee, Donald J. Trump for President, said in a statement.

The statement also said CNN "takes issue with the ad’s message calling out the mainstream media for peddling fake news and not reporting on the fact that President Trump is making America great again."

[...]

"CNN requested that the advertiser remove the false graphic that the mainstream media is 'fake news.' The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false and per policy will be accepted only if that graphic is deleted," CNN said in a statement. [Politico, 5/2/17]

May 4

The Day After World Press Freedom Day Trump Tweeted “The Fake News Media Is Officially Out Of Control. They Will Do Or Say Anything In Order To Get Attention - Never Been A Time Like This!”

Trump Criticized “Fake Media” For Noting He Hasn’t Labeled China Currency Manipulator. In a May 4 interview with The Economist, Trump criticized the “fake media” for noting that he failed to keep his campaign promise to label China a currency manipulator, saying that he was working with China to “help us with North Korea.” [The Economist, 5/11/17]

May 5

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “Never … Use Politico As A Source For Your Story.” During the May 5 White House press briefing, Sarah Huckabee Sanders responded to a question about a Politico story regarding the the Trump administration possibly stripping funding from the Office of National Drug Control Policy by saying, “My first piece of advice would never be to use Politico for a source of -- for your story.” A Politico reporter in response noted on Twitter that “many White House aides use POLITICO as a source to figure out what's going on in the White House themselves.” From the May 5 briefing:

MARGARET TALEV: Really interesting and, I thought, surprising story in Politico saying that there's a plan by the Trump administration to gut the national -- the Office of National Drug Control Policy. And I'm just wondering if you could tell us is that report correct, and why? Is the thinking to -- I mean obviously he cares about the opioid addiction problem. We've talked about that. You’ve brought Chris Christie into the mix. What would be the reason for gutting that office? And is it to move it somewhere else? I've got a French election question also. I'll wait though.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, my first piece of advice would never be to use Politico for a source of -- for your story, but in terms, when it comes to the opioid epidemic, I think the president's been extremely clear. This is a top priority for him. I certainly wouldn't get ahead of conversations about the budget. We haven't had a final document. And I think it would be ridiculous to comment on a draft version of something at this point. [White House Press Briefing, 5/5/17; Politico, 5/5/17; Twitter, 5/5/17]

Trump: “Wow, The Fake News Media Did Everything In Its Power To Make The Republican Healthcare Victory Look As Bad As Possible. Far Better Than [Obamacare]!”

May 10

White House Press Corps Barred From Trump Meeting With Russian Foreign Minister While Russian State-Run Media Outlet Photographer Allowed In. Trump’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak “was closed to all press -- except, apparently, official government photographers,” according to Talking Points Memo. Wire images from the meeting were taken by a photographer permanently assigned to Lavrov from Russian media outlet TASS, “which is commonly described as state-run or state-owned.” NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell noted that “the Russians had [the images] all out globally, while the White House Press Corps was kept out,” calling the move “unprecedented.” From a May 10 Talking Points Memo report:

President Donald Trump’s meeting Wednesday morning with two top Russian officials was closed to all press — except, apparently, official government photographers.

Trump met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, along with Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergey Kislyak.

“The Lavrov meeting was closed to the press and the only visual account we have of it thus far is via handout photos from the Russian government,” The Hill’s Jordan Fabian wrote in a pool report Wednesday morning. “Those images show Trump also met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.”

Gizmodo’s Matt Novak noted on Twitter that Getty wire images of the meeting were credited to TASS, which is commonly described as state-run or state-owned. [Talking Points Memo, 5/10/17; MSNBC, MSNBC Live, 5/10/17]

HHS Secretary Tom Price Defended Police Who Arrested Reporter Asking Him A Question. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price defended police arresting Public News Service reporter Dan Heyman after he repeatedly asked Price about the Republican health care bill in a hallway at the West Virginia state Capitol. Price praised the move, saying police “did what they felt was appropriate.” From a May 11 CNN article:

"They did what they felt was appropriate," Secretary Tom Price said when he was asked about it at a press conference on Wednesday.

"That gentleman was not in a press conference," he added. "We were walking down a hall, and Capitol Police acted as they thought necessary."

Dan Heyman, a reporter for Public News Service, was arrested Tuesday at the state Capitol. He said he was trying to get Price to comment about the effort by Republicans in Congress to repeal Obamacare.

Heyman said he asked a question about pre-existing conditions several times as he and Price walked through a hallway, but Price never responded. Then, according to Heyman, a member of Price's Secret Service detail signaled to Capitol police to remove him.

The reporter was arrested and charged with willful disruption of governmental processes, a misdemeanor. He was released on a $5,000 bond after being held for nearly eight hours. If found guilty, he could be forced to pay a fine of at least $100 and face jail time of up six months.

Heyman, 54, said that until he was arrested, it was a typical reporter scrum. [CNN.com, 5/11/17]

May 11

Trump Called CNN’s Cuomo A “Chained Lunatic” And CNN’s Lemon “Perhaps The Dumbest Person In Broadcasting” While Speaking To Reporters From Time. According to Time magazine, Trump said “he thinks CNN's Chris Cuomo looks like a ‘chained lunatic’ on television. CNN's Don Lemon is ‘perhaps the dumbest person is broadcasting’ and CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert is a ‘no-talent guy’ who talks ‘filthy.’” He continued berating the press:

President Donald Trump says he thinks CNN's Chris Cuomo looks like a "chained lunatic" on television. CNN's Don Lemon is "perhaps the dumbest person in broadcasting" and CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert is a "no-talent guy" who talks "filthy."

[...]

"Washington Post, New York Times, they’re really, really dishonest," he said, before directly addressing the TIME reporters he had invited for dinner. "You people are quite dishonest in all fairness." He said he used to watch MSNBC's Joe Scarborough but no longer does. He also claimed to have helped CNN president Jeff Zucker, an old friend and business colleague, get his job at the network.

The one network he praised was Fox News, saying he watches their shows and is responsible for its ratings bump. [Time, 5/11/17]

May 12

Trump Lashed Out At “The Fake Media” And Threatened To Cancel “All Future ‘Press Briefings,’” In A Series Of Tweets.

May 13

Trump Repeated Threat To End Daily Press Briefings Because Of “Hostility” From Media. In an interview on Fox News’ Justice with Judge Jeanine, Trump doubled down on his threat to cancel White House press briefings, suggesting that they could replace them with “a piece of paper with a perfectly accurate, beautiful answer” given to reporters. [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 5/13/17]

At Coast Guard Commencement Speech, Trump Complained That “No Politician In History … Has Been Treated Worse Or More Unfairly” By The Media. Trump, while speaking before the Coast Guard Academy as their commencement speaker, said that “no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly” by the media. He added that he “didn't get elected to serve the Washington media.” From the May 17 speech:

DONALD TRUMP: Now I want to take this opportunity to give you some advice. Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, but you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, ever give up. Things will work out just fine.

Look at the way I've been treated lately. Especially by the media. No politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. You can't let them get you down. You can't let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams. I guess that's why I won. Thank you. I guess that's why we won. Adversity makes you stronger. Don't give in, don't back down, and never stop doing what you know is right. Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy, and the more righteous your fight, the more opposition that you will face. [Media Matters, 5/17/17]

May 18

Tillerson Held Joint Press Conference In Saudi Arabia Without Inviting American Reporters. During Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia, Tillerson held a press conference with the Saudi foreign minister, but failed to notify American reporters about it:

Tillerson held the press conference with the Saudi foreign minister, Adel bin Ahmed Al-Jubeir, but it appeared that only foreign reporters were present. Journalists from the United States were left scrambling to figure out what happened.

The State Department later apologized, adding that it couldn't notify the press in time.

State Department spokesman R.C. Hammond said there was "not enough time to alert or make arrangements for U.S. media to participate."

"Steps were immediately taken to ensure a transcript could be produced and distributed to reporters. Ideally, members of the U.S. press corps should have had the option to attend the press conference and ask questions," he said.

[...]

Reporters later found a feed of the event that they used to transcribe Tillerson's remarks. The secretary spoke about President Trump's speech to the Muslim world on Sunday. [CNN.com, 5/22/17]

Scavino Called The Wall Street Journal “#FakeNewsMedia” After Reporting That Trump’s Tweets Could Be Vetted By Attorneys. After The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump “is actively discussing major changes in the White House, including having lawyers vet his tweets” to “decide if any needed to be adjusted or curtailed,” Scavino tweeted that the Journal is part of the “#FakeNewsMedia” and has “terrible ‘sources.’”

May 30

White House Staffers Berated Morning Show Hosts For Covering Trump’s Tweets Pushing The Muslim Ban. Conway and Gorka objected to questions about Trump’s tweets pushing the Muslim ban during morning show interviews. On NBC's Today, Conway lamented the "obsession with covering everything he says on Twitter and very little of what he does as president," while Gorka said on CNN’s New Day that co-host Chris Cuomo was being “irresponsible” for covering Trump’s tweets, repeatedly calling him obsessed. Gorka later tweeted that the interview showed that CNN was “truly #FAKENEWS.” [Media Matters, 6/5/17; Twitter, 6/5/17]

Huckabee Sanders Castigated Media For An “Obsession Over Every Detail Of The President’s Tweets,” Which Are To Get Around “Media Bias.” NBC’s Hallie Jackson asked Huckabee Sanders at the daily White House press briefing about “another top adviser” claiming the media are “obsessed” over Trump’s tweets, and whether she would characterize media coverage of them the same way. Huckabee Sanders said Trump’s tweets are a way to communicate “that isn’t filtered through media bias” before agreeing that the media “obsesses over” every detail of the president’s public communications. From the June 5 press briefing:

HALLIE JACKSON: You mentioned the president's tweets are -- essentially a way to get around the filter of the biassed media when it comes to his tweets, and he sees them as an important way to get his message out. Just this morning, another top adviser in this White House said that the media was obsessed with the president’s tweets, implying it didn’t matter. So I guess just philosophically, which is it? Do the president's tweets matter, or are they just something the media gets obsessed about?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think that they matter in the sense that it gives him a communications tool, again, that isn't filtered through media bias. But at the same time, I do think that the media obsesses over every period, dot, as John was a perfect example earlier. He made a mistake. His colleague politely corrected him. If somebody from our administration had done the same, all hell would have broken loose and it would be the -- it’s just total, like, chaos and conundrum here at the White House. So I think it's just the obsession over every detail of the president's tweets. [White House Press Briefing, 6/5/17]

June 6

Trump: “The FAKE [Mainstream Media] Is Working So Hard Trying To Get Me Not To Use Social Media. They Hate That I Can Get The Honest And Unfiltered Message Out.”

June 9

Trump Criticized “Killer Networks That Treat Me So Badly As Fake News” In Joint Presser With Romanian President. During a June 9 press conference with Romania’s president, Trump criticized the “killer networks that treat me so badly as fake news.” From the joint press conference:

TRUMP: Who would like to ask -- should I take one of the killer networks that treat me so badly as fake news? Should I do that? Go ahead, Jon. Be fair, Jon.

JON KARL: Oh, absolutely.

TRUMP: Remember how nice you used to be before I ran? Such a nice man. [Press conference with Romanian president, 6/9/17]

White House Banned Audio Broadcasting Of Off-Camera Press “Gaggle.” CNN reported how the Trump administration had been undermining the daily White House press briefings for a week, explaining that on June 19 they banned journalists from broadcasting the audio of an off-camera “gaggle.” From the CNN article:

The White House press briefing has seen better days. Lately, in fact, the briefing is often not seen at all.

For four days last week, representatives for President Trump skipped the usual on-camera briefing to take questions off-camera. This wasn't the first time the White House had taken this step, but this month has brought an added twist.

In response to networks like CNN that decided to broadcast audio of the briefing, even without a visual to accompany, the White House barred attendees from doing that, too. Monday's briefing -- the White House termed it a "gaggle," a more informal set-up, though it took place in a format much like a briefing -- was likewise off-camera, with audio broadcasting forbidden. [CNN.com, 6/19/17]

June 21

Spicer Blamed Reduced On-Camera White House Press Briefings On Reporters Wanting To Be “YouTube Stars.” Spicer criticized White House correspondents for wanting to be “YouTube stars” when explaining the Trump administration’s decision to scale back daily press briefings in an interview with right-wing talk radio host Laura Ingraham. From a June 21 LifeZette report on his interview:

"There's a lot of them that want to become YouTube stars and ask some snarky question that's been asked eight times. And that's right, that's their right to do that. But it's our job to make sure that we're providing updates and readouts of what the president is doing and the advances he is making on his agenda," Spicer continued. "And so there is a bit of snarkiness now with the press because, again, a lot of them are more focused about getting their clip on air than they are of actually taking the time to understand an issue." [LifeZette, 6/21/17]

Trump Attacked NBC And “Fake News” At Iowa Rally. During his June 21 rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Trump called NBC News “this phony NBC television network” for its coverage of the Georgia congressional special election. He also attacked “the fake news.” [Media Matters, 6/21/17; The New York Times, 6/21/17]

Conway: Media “Have This Russian Concussion” And Are Unable To Report On What Americans Want. Conway claimed that media “have this Russian concussion” and don’t focus on what “is important to” Americans. From the June 21 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: During the campaign I used to say that there’s this total disconnect between what Americans are telling us is important to them, and and what they’re being told is important to them. And I see it again now that he's president. The media and the Democrats have this Russian concussion and they’ve lost, like, muscle memory to be able to function in any other way to talk about anything he's doing. [Fox News, Hannity, 6/21/17]

June 22

Spicer: “I Think Some Of These Reporters Are More Interested In Their YouTube Clips Than They Are In Getting Factual News.” Spicer dismissed criticism by CNN’s Jim Acosta over his ban on media outlets from airing White House press briefings by claiming some reporters just want “YouTube clips” instead of answers to their questions. He also questioned whether reporting based on anonymous sources is genuine. From the June 25 edition of Fox News’ MediaBuzz:

HOWARD KURTZ (HOST): And speaking of CNN, correspondent Jim Acosta -- who you’ve tangled with a few times -- said that -- he’s gone on a kind of campaign against you. He said the briefings are now kind of useless, the White House is stonewalling, why should reporters bother attending?

SEAN SPICER: Well it's sad that if he believes that if it doesn't occur on TV -- I think some of these reporters are more interested in their YouTube clips than they are in getting factual news. You look at the number of questions that get asked over and over again just so a reporter can get a clip of themselves saying something or yelling at someone. That’s not --

KURTZ: So the camera makes it repetitive.

SPICER: I think it not only makes it repetitive, but again, there’s a mix. I think the cameras are fine and there’s an opportunity to have that. But I think you can equally -- on days when the president’s speaking, have an off-camera briefing where you have a substantive engagement on policy issues. But to suggest if somehow it's not on television -- it's somewhat nonsensical. Many of these reporters use anonymous sources and write up things, and yet I can make an equal argument that that doesn’t sound like news to me. We engage with the press corps very robustly from early in the morning to late at night. The briefing is one small part of what this extensive staff does to engage with the media. [Fox News, MediaBuzz, 6/25/17]

Trump Wrote Several Tweets Bashing CNN For Retracted Russia Investigation Story And Attacked Broadcast Networks And Major Newspapers As “Fake News.” After CNN published and then retracted a story about a Trump official's links to a Russian investment fund -- where three employees responsible for the story later resigned -- Trump wrote or retweeted several tweets lambasting CNN over the incident, also writing that the broadcast news networks, The New York Times, and The Washington Post are “all Fake News”:

Huckabee Sanders Attacked CNN For Retracted Report And Encouraged Reporters To View Conservative Activist’s Smear Video Of CNN. Huckabee Sanders attacked CNN for its retracted report and complained about “the constant barrage of fake news” directed at Trump, claiming that CNN has been “repeatedly wrong” on other stories, and urging reporters to view a smear video by disgraced conservative activist James O’Keefe that targeted CNN. From the June 27 press briefing:

CHARLIE SPIERING: Recently, Breitbart News challenged the accuracy of a CNN story, and afterwards it was retracted, deleted, and the editors responsible were fired, as well as the network apologized for the story. The target of this -- one of the targets of the story accepted the apology. The President went on Twitter this morning and repeated that CNN was fake news. Why isn’t their response good enough for the President?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: I don’t know that it’s that the response isn’t good enough for the President. I think it’s the constant barrage of fake news directed at this President probably that has garnered a lot of his frustration. You point to that report; there are multiple other instances where that outlet that you referenced has been repeatedly wrong and had to point that out or be corrected.

There’s a video circulating now, whether it’s accurate or not I don’t know, but I would encourage everybody in this room, and, frankly, everybody across the country to take a look at it. I think if it is accurate, I think it’s a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism. I think that we have gone to a place where if the media can’t be trusted to report the news, then that’s a dangerous place for America. And I think if that is the place that certain outlets are going, particularly for the purpose of spiking ratings, and if that’s coming directly from the top, I think that’s even more scary and certainly more disgraceful. And I hope that that’s not the direction we’re headed. I hope that outlets that have continued to use either unnamed sources, sometimes stories with no sources at all. We’ve been going on this Russia-Trump hoax for the better part of a year now with no evidence of anything.

Things like the success at the VA barely get covered. They may get covered for an hour at a time, but this story gets covered day in, day out. And I think America is, frankly, looking for something better. They’re looking for something more. And I think they deserve something better from our news media. [White House press briefing, 6/27/17; Media Matters, 6/27/17]

Huckabee Sanders Continued Bashing Press After Getting Called Out For “Inflaming Everybody” With The Administration’s Constant Attacks On The Media. Brian Karem, executive editor of The Sentinel Newspapers, called out Huckabee Sanders for being “inflammatory to people all over the country” by attacked the press. She retorted that “it’s the dishonesty that often takes place by the news media” that’s being “inflamed.” From the June 27 press briefing:

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: And all we’re saying is I think that we should take a really good look at what we are focused on, what we are covering and making sure that it’s actually accurate and it’s honest. If we make the slightest mistake, the slightest word is off, it is just an absolute tirade from a lot of people in this room. But news outlets get to go on day after day and cite unnamed sources, use stories without sources, have -- you mentioned the [Anthony] Scaramucci [CNN] story where they had to have reporters resign.

BRIAN KAREM: Sarah, that’s -- come on. You’re inflaming everybody right here and right now with those words. This administration has done that as well. Why in the name of heavens -- any one of us, right, are replaceable, and any one of us, if we don’t get it right, the audience has the opportunity to turn the channel or not read us. You have been elected to serve for four years at least. There’s no option other than that. We’re here to ask you questions, you’re here to provide the answers, and what you just did is inflammatory to people all over the country who look at it and say, “See, once again, the President is right and everybody else out here is fake media.” And everybody in this room is only trying to do their job.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Well, I just -- I disagree completely. First of all, I think if anything has been inflamed, it’s the dishonesty that often takes place by the news media. And I think it is outrageous for you to accuse me of inflaming a story when I was simply trying to respond to his question. [White House press briefing, 6/27/17]

Trump Made Sexist Remark About Irish Reporter While On The Phone With Ireland’s Prime Minister. As Trump was being videotaped on a phone call with Ireland’s new prime minister, he called RTÉ News reporter Caitriona Perry to his side and commented into the phone, “she has a nice smile on her face so I bet she treats you well.” [BBC News, 6/28/17]

June 28

Trump Accused “The Failing” New York Times Of Writing A “False Story” About His Involvement In Republicans’ Health Care Effort. After The New York Times published an article with the headline “On Senate Health Bill, Trump Falters in the Closer’s Role,” Trump lashed out at the “failing” newspaper on Twitter, accusing it of writing a “false story” about him. One of the article’s writers, White House correspondent Glenn Thrush, replied to Trump on Twitter, writing that the newspaper “spoke to many, many, many members of your staff” and “ran everything by your team.”

White House Barred Reporters From Trump Fundraiser After Originally Telling Them They Would Be Allowed To Cover It. CNN reported that the White House announced that Trump’s June 29 fundraiser at his Washington, D.C., hotel would be covered by the White House press pool, but then barred them two hours later, citing “logistical challenges bringing in the press.” The CNN story noted that preventing reporters from covering the event was “a break from past precedent.” [CNN.com, 6/29/17]

Trump Reportedly Was “Ripping Into CNN” During Closed Fundraiser Remarks. Trump reportedly was “ripping into CNN” in remarks he delivered at his re-election fundraiser, which media were banned from covering, according to Politico. From the June 28 article:

Speaking for about 30 minutes at the closed-door event, according to two people present, the president continued to bash a favorite target — the media, and, in particular, CNN. Trump derided the network for errors and presented himself as a victim of its reporting, which he described as deeply unfair. At one point, the president turned his fire on one of the network’s liberal commentators, Van Jones. [Politico, 6/28/17]

June 29

Trump: “I.Q. Crazy Mika” Brzezinski And “Psycho Joe” Scarborough “Insisted On Joining Me” At Mar-A-Lago While Brzezinski “Was Bleeding Badly From A Face-Lift.” A little more than 30 minutes after Scavino attacked the MSNBC hosts on Twitter, Trump tweeted that he turned “I.Q. Crazy” Brzezinski and "Psycho Joe" Scarborough away from a New Year’s Eve Mar-a-Lago party, and claimed that Brzezinski "was bleeding badly from a face-lift.” According to a CNN report, Trump’s claim was false.

Huckabee Sanders Justified Trump’s Attack On Brzezinski’s Appearance And Blamed Media For Press Briefing Restrictions. Huckabee Sanders justified Trump’s attack on Brzezinski’s appearance stating "I don't think the president's ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn't push back," adding he was someone who “fights fire with fire.” Huckabee Sanders also defended the Trump administration’s restrictions on the daily White House press briefings, claiming “the behavior of the press corps” is better when cameras are off. From the June 29 edition of Fox News’ America’s Newsroom:

BILL HEMMER (CO-HOST): What is the White House saying about why that went out?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, I don't think that the president's ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn't push back. There have been an outrageous number of personal attacks, not just to him but to frankly everyone around him. Please on that show have personally attack me many times. This is a president who fights fire with fire and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media and the liberal elites within the media or Hollywood or anywhere else.

HEMMER: I get it but is -- is that necessary?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: Look, I think what's necessary is to push back against unnecessary attacks on the president both personally. I’ve seen far worse things come out of that show. Again, directed not just at the president but everyone around him, personal attacks, mean, hateful attacks. And again, this president isn’t going to sit back and not push back and he’s going to fight fire with fire and I think that's exactly what he just said.

HEMMER: I’ve heard that from you and I’ve heard that from him. But it seems like it is entirely more personal than it needs to be. And I'm wondering if you want to address that.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think I have addressed that as much as I can in terms of the president. Again, isn't going to be somebody who’s bullied and allows people, himself, and those around him to be personally attacked.

HEMMER: And he would argue that he’s always going to punch back and he’s not going to fire the first shot and perhaps he feels the criticism toward him is unwarranted. But going to this --

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I mean the outrageous attacks that take place on that show, day in, day out, not just at the president, and not against his policies, not against things that he’s pushing, but they’re personal and they’re not just directed at him, but again, everyone around them. I’ve been called a lot of names on that show that don't have anything to do with my beliefs or ideology or policy, but they’re personal attacks.

[...]

HEMMER: We’re about to do a segment in a moment with the argument that some former press secretaries, Republican and Democrat alike, are arguing now that the press briefings have become a public slow. First of all, do you think that's the case?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: I think oftentimes given that I’ve seen the difference between the behavior of the press corps, whether it's on camera and off camera, the temperature, the tone definitely comes way down. I think off camera briefings tend to have a lot more substance than on camera. Because it does become more about theatrics and the show and the yelling and the gotcha questions. And so I do think that there is a great point and a great part of being able to have a mix of doing both on and off camera. [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 6/29/17]

Trump Called CNN “Fake News” During Speech At Department Of Energy. During a speech on his energy proposals, Trump called CNN “fake news” for suggesting that the U.S. “could only solve this energy crisis by imposing draconian restrictions on energy production”:

DONALD TRUMP: Americans were told that our nation could only solve this energy crisis by imposing draconian restrictions on energy production. But we now know that was all a big, beautiful myth. It was fake. Don’t we love that term, "fake"? What we’ve learned about fake over the last little while -- fake news, CNN. Fake. [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 6/29/17]

Huckabee Sanders Continued Justifying Trump’s Attack On Brzezinski During Daily Press Briefing. Huckabee Sanders repeatedly defended Trump’s tweets attacking Mika Brzezinski’s appearance during the daily White House press briefing, stating that Trump has “been very clear that when he gets attacked he’s going to hit back,” and claiming that Trump “was simply pushing back and defending himself” from the hosts' criticism. [WhiteHouse.gov, 6/29/17]

June 30

Morning Joe Hosts Alleged Trump Attempted To Blackmail Them With A National Enquirer Story. MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski alleged that “this year, top White House staff members warned that the National Enquirer was planning to publish a negative article about us unless we begged the president to have the story spiked.” [Media Matters, 6/30/17]

In Response To Morning Joe Hosts Claim, Trump Called The Show "Low Rated" And “FAKE NEWS.”

Conway: Media Coverage Discussing Trump’s Fitness For Office Is “Neither Productive Nor Patriotic.” In an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America, Conway defended Trump’s sexist attack against MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski on Twitter by claiming “there are personal attacks about his physicalities, about his fitness for office” by media figures, and adding, “It doesn’t help the American people to have a president covered in this light … it’s neither productive nor patriotic” for Trump to be covered that way. [Politico, 6/30/17]

July 2017

July 1

Trump Alleged Greta Van Susteren Was “Let Go” From MSNBC “Because She Refused To Go Along W/ ‘Trump Hate’” From Her “Out Of Control Bosses."

Trump: “The Fake Media Tried To Stop Us From Going To The White House, But I’m President And They’re Not.” Trump lashed out at the press during a rally at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., telling the crowd “the press has destroyed themselves because they went too far.” He added, “Instead of being subtle and smart, they use the hatchet.” From the July 1 speech:

DONALD TRUMP: The fake media is trying to silence us, but we will not let them, because the people know the truth. The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House, but I'm president and they're not.

We won and they lost. The fact is the press has destroyed themselves because they went too far. Instead of being subtle and smart, they use the hatchet and the people saw it right from the beginning. The dishonest media will never keep us from accomplishing our objectives. On behalf of our great American people, will never happen. Their agenda is not your agenda. You've been saying that. [YouTube, 7/1/17]

Trump: “The Dishonest Media Will NEVER Keep Us From Accomplishing Our Objectives On Behalf Of Our GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE!” Trump posted a video clip of his July 1 speech where he attacked the media. The tweet had a caption reading “The FAKE MEDIA is trying to silence us”:

July 5

NY Times Reported “White House Advisers Have Discussed” Using Merger Between Time Warner And AT&T As "Leverage" Against CNN. A July 5 New York Times article on Trump’s attacks on CNN reported that “White House advisers have discussed a potential point of leverage over their adversary, a senior administration official said: a pending merger between CNN’s parent company, Time Warner, and AT&T. Mr. Trump’s Justice Department will decide whether to approve the merger, and while analysts say there is little to stop the deal from moving forward, the president’s animus toward CNN remains a wild card.” [The New York Times, 7/5/17]

July 6

Trump Complained About CNN And NBC Coverage During Visit To Poland. At a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, Trump replied to a question about his attacks against CNN by saying CNN has been “fake news for a long time” and that “NBC is equally as bad”:

DONALD TRUMP: I think what CNN did was unfortunate for them, as you know now they have some pretty serious problems. They have been fake news for a long time. They have been covering me in a very, very dishonest way. Do you have that also, by the way, Mr. President? With CNN and others, I mean, and others. NBC is equally as bad despite the fact that I made them a fortune with The Apprentice, but they forgot that. But, I will say that CNN has really taken it too seriously and I think they've hurt themselves very badly, very, very badly. And, what we want to see in the United States is honest, beautiful, free, but honest press. We want to see fair press. I think it's a very important thing. We don't want fake news. And, by the way, not everybody is fake news. But we don't want fake news. Bad thing. Very bad for our country. [Media Matters, 7/6/17]

July 8

Trump Tweeted In Support Of Anti-Press Polish President: “We Will Fight The #FakeNews With You!” After Polish President Andrzej Duda tweeted “Let’s FIGHT FAKE NEWS” with a clarification of a handshake between his wife and Trump, Trump quoted Duda’s tweet and added, “We will fight the #FakeNews with you!” The Washington Post has reported that Duda has "been accused of trying to suppress his country's media outlets," and that press freedom organization Freedom House has said the current Polish government is trying to “stifle the media and limit dissent and debate within the country.”

July 10

Trump Tweeted “Fake News” Media Would Be Supportive If Chelsea Clinton Sat In On Meetings For Hillary Clinton. Following criticism of Ivanka Trump sitting in for her father during a G20 meeting, Trump declared “Fake News” media “would say CHELSEA FOR PRES” if she had sat in on a meeting for her mother.

Conway Mocked CNN’s Credibility During Contentious Interview. In an interview on CNN’s New Day, described by The Daily Beast as a “neverending trainwreck,” Conway questioned CNN’s credibility and “tried to act as assignment editor for CNN,” saying the “network should spend more time covering Trump‘s positive deeds.” From The Daily Beast’s recap of the interview:

Monday morning’s CNN New Day interview with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway was anything but a typical interview.

What was originally supposed to be an 18-minute interview—about the revelation that Donald Trump Jr. was offered damaging information about Hillary Clinton in advance of meeting a Kremlin-tied lawyer during the 2016 campaign—became a 36-minute amalgam of deflections, half-truths, and a courtroom-like spinning of the topic at hand.

[...]

When the subject immediately turned to Trump Jr.’s supposedly unfruitful meeting with a Russian operative, Conway refused to discuss it. At times, her diversions consisted of snarking at CNN host Chris Cuomo (“I admire your moxie, sitting there with the CNN chyron right near you talking about credibility issues”), acting out her own version of A Few Good Men (“If we were in court, your side would not even survive a motion to dismiss because you’ve got nothing”), or attempting to change the subject (“Let’s focus on what did not happen in that meeting”).

[...]

Conway later tried to act as assignment editor for CNN, telling Cuomo his network should spend more time covering Trump‘s positive deeds—from the ceasefire, to his plan to have a plan on infrastructure, to his extension of a bill allowing veterans the choice to seek private medical care.

“We had the VA secretary [on CNN],” Cuomo noted, before declaring, “My conscience is clean. My mission is clear. What I do, I cover what I think matters to people. I test power and I take the consequences every damn day. And that's not going to change.”

Another effort to bring the chat back to the president’s son resulted in a frustrating five-minute exchange that involved Conway’s thoughts on Hillary Clinton, her belief that the Trump Jr.-Russia meeting “doesn’t matter,” and—once again—that CNN’s Trump coverage ignores his health care and infrastructure plans.

July 11

Trump Reportedly Complained That “Failing New York Times” Was “So Unfair” To Him During Campaign.New York Times Magazine correspondent Mark Leibovich recounted a meeting he had with Trump in early June, where the president “pointed out that ‘you treated me very badly’ during the campaign, and that the ‘failing New York Times’ had been ‘so unfair’ to him.” [The New York Times Magazine, 7/11/17]

Gorka Repeatedly Denigrated CNN During Interview On New Day. After being asked on CNN’s New Day about The New York Times reporting that Donald Trump Jr. and other Trump campaign officials met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer to try to obtain damaging information on Hillary Clinton in June 2016, Gorka cited the previous day’s segment with Conway and repeatedly denigrated CNN as “fake news,” mocked its ratings, and said to co-host Alisyn Camerota, “we’d like you to actually do your job. You aren't in the news business anymore. You used to be. You are in the attacking President Trump business. And it's sad. It's really sad.” [CNN New Day, 7/11/17]

Gorka then moved on to illegal leaks from the administration and intelligence agencies, bashing Ruhle and her “colleagues in the fake news media, CNN and MSNBC, The New York Times and Washington Post” for failing to find “one piece of felonious evidence.” [Mediaite, 7/11/17]

July 12

Trump: “Remember, When You Hear The Words ‘Sources Say’ From The Fake Media, Often Times Those Sources Are Made Up And Do Not Exist.”

Trump Told CBN’s Pat Robertson He’s Giving Him An Interview “Because I’m Treated Very Unfairly By The Press.” Near the end of an interview on CBN’s The 700 Club recorded on July 12 at the White House, Trump complained about media not covering positive economic news, saying, “That's why I do interviews with you. You have a tremendous audience. You have people that I love. The evangelicals -- and sometimes you say the evangelical Christians, but I do a lot of interviews with people because I can get the word out, because I'm treated very unfairly by the press.” [Christian Broadcasting Network, The 700 Club, 7/12/17]

Huckabee Sanders: Continued Reporting On Trump Scandals Is “Undermining The Credibility Of The Media.” During the July 12 press briefing, Huckabee Sanders declared that media reporting on Russia-related scandals in the Trump administration is “undermining the credibility of the media.” From the briefing:

Q Sarah, I want to ask you, the drip, drip, drip is undermining the credibility of this administration. Do you perceive that?

MS. SANDERS: I think it’s actually undermining the credibility of the media because they drip, drip, drip a lot of things that don't seem to have much to -- much ado about nothing. [WhiteHouse.gov, 7/12/17]

ANDERSON COOPER (HOST): I do want to start off with what Dana and others are reporting. The president has had four days now without an event on his public schedule. You’ve heard the reporting that there’s a bunker mode in parts of the White House since the news of Donald Trump Jr. broke. I want you to be able to comment on that.

SEBASTIAN GORKA: Oh absolutely. It's laughable. Your chyron talked about a crisis. Your reporter talked about a bunker mentality. I actually work in the West Wing, I work in the White House. It is absolutely nothing of the kind. We are pushing the make America great again agenda. The president is a steam locomotive that will not be stopped. It's just fake news. I'm sad to see CNN fall to this. I know you want salacious, sensational coverage for your ratings, so your corporate sponsors and owners will have more money. But that's not media, that’s not reportage. It's just fake news.

COOPER: OK. I'm just going to ignore the insults, because I don't think it really gets us anywhere.

GORKA: It's not about you, it’s about actually having journalism back on TV. Where are the Walter Cronkites of yesteryear? This is just about ratings and money. It's actually quite sad.

[...]

GORKA: The story only has legs because the fake news industrial complex is obsessed. Nine months of accusations with zero, zero evidence of anything illegal. [CNN, Anderson Cooper 360, 7/12/17]

Conway Trashed Media’s Approval Ratings. In an appearance on Fox News’ Hannity on July 12, Conway, during a discussion of media coverage of the Trump campaign’s possible collusion with Russia, asked, “Have you seen the approval ratings of the media lately?” She hastened to congratulate Hannity on his ratings, since he has carried the Trump administration’s water throughout all the Russia coverage, and said “thank you for talking about America so often” after complaining that other media outlets cover Russia-Trump stories so much. [Fox News, Hannity, 7/12/17]

July 13

Trump Broke Press Norm By Calling On Foreign Journalist Instead Of An American At Paris Joint Presser. CNN reported that Trump violated a long-standing norm of joint press conferences with foreign leaders by denying a question to an American journalist during a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. From the July 13 article:

President Trump called on a non-American journalist during Thursday's joint press conference with the President of France, breaking with protocol and denying American journalists a rare opportunity to ask a question of their president.

After French President Emmanuel Macron called for a final question from an "American journalist," President Trump instead called on a man who identified himself as a journalist from "Phoenix TV of China."

Joint press conferences that U.S. presidents hold with foreign leaders traditionally include two questions from journalists of the host nation (in this case, France) and two questions from journalists of the visiting nation (in this case, the United States).

"Seems like a clear violation of protocol for this question not to go to an American journalist," Jonathan Lemire, a White House reporter for the Associated Press, tweeted.

Asked for comment about the President choosing to call on a non-American reporter, Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told CNNMoney, "Like the members of the White House Press Corps, The President wants a free press and he can call on any reporter he chooses." [CNN.com, 7/13/17]

Gorka Declared Himself “The President’s Pit Bull” Against The “Fake News Industrial Complex.” After Sean Hannity praised Gorka for his repeated criticisms of news organizations in previous days, Gorka said CNN and MSNBC “have a credibility crisis” and said he’s willing to be “the president’s pit bull” against what he called “fake news industrial complex.” From the July 14 edition of Fox News’ Hannity:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): All right, a Gorka beat-down. Joining us now, the man himself, the deputy assistant to the president, Dr. Sebastian Gorka. I just want to point out, factually, 50-year reruns of Yogi Bear, 25-plus year reruns of Full House are what's on at "Nick at Night" that is beating CNN. So you are factually correct. And you took it to them. And I'm glad you did. Why did you decide to do it?

SEBASTIAN GORKA: Because sooner or later somebody has to push back. We’ve got beautiful, intelligent women like Kellyanne. We've got brave professionals like Sean Spicer. Somebody has to be the president's pit bull. And I'm ready. I'm going to take it to them.

They had a reputation -- Sean, they had a reputation. CNN in the warzones, MSNBC. It's gone like a puff of smoke. They have a credibility crisis. Think about what they're doing. They've been in this collusion delusion for nine months, not one piece of illegal evidence of any illegal activity, and they spin and they spin. They're tanking. Somebody has to make them wake up, and I'm glad to help them.

HANNITY: Listen, it's something we do on this program almost every night. And we're giving news and information that I argue you really can't get anywhere else. And I even watched about eight minutes last night of a CNN program. It was so shallow, so bitterly partisan, so absolutely factually inaccurate that I couldn't take it anymore. And I tweeted it out, and people wrote, “Why did you waste eight minutes of your life? We know it's fake news.”

[...]

GORKA: Sean, they've made a decision. My White House colleague, Andy Surabian, he coined the phrase last week, the fake news industrial complex. There's two ways to be successful in your business, Sean. One way is to go after the ratings with sensationalism, with lies, lies about Tony Scaramucci, lies about what Mueller is going to testify. Just spin, spin, spin so you make more money. [Fox News, Hannity, 7/14/17]

Trump Administration Reportedly Tried To Get Politico Reporter Removed From White House Correspondents Association And Asked Its Head To Condemn Her Reporting. Mediaite reported that on CNN’s Reliable Sources, White House Correspondents Association head Jeff Mason identified Politico reporter Tara Palmeri as the reporter that the Trump administration asked him to criticize over a report it was upset with. Palmeri later said, “Well, I’m not surprised because I had heard from my editor that they had threatened to try to remove me from the White House Correspondents Association, which they don’t have power to do.” [Mediaite, 7/16/17]

July 17

Gorka Likened CNN To Soviet Union State-Run Press, But Even Worse. Gorka criticized the news organizations CNN and MSNBC, comparing CNN to old Soviet Union press organizations like Pravda but saying that CNN was even worse. From the July 17 edition of Premiere Radio Network’s The Sean Hannity Show:

SEBASTIAN GORKA: It’s truly become an obsession, it really, really has. And as we discussed earlier, there’s two ways to do what you do, to be in the news business. One is to be committed to the truth. You are proud of your conservative views and you’re open about them, but you actually are focused on the truth. Whether it’s about ISIS, Fast & Furious, the IRS scandal, Benghazi. And the other one, sadly, is the one that MSNBC, CNN have fallen into, which is, “We’re just going to go after the ratings. The ratings make our sponsors and our corporate owners happy, and if it means lying, if it means spinning, if it means make literally making things up,” such as the Scaramucci story, “then we will do it.” And at the same time, and this is the real kicker Sean, we’re going to say that we’re bipartisan and independent.

[...]

GORKA: Think about what we’ve sunken to, or what certain elements of the mainstream media have sunken to. If you just look at the figure, again -- this is just fact, this is Harvard University -- more than 90 percent of the coverage of organs like CNN is about attacking the president. More than 90 percent. Not even the Soviet Union’s media was that bad. If you look at the minutes, if you look at how much in the 42-minute hour section CNN devotes to Russia, they talk more about Russia than America, Sean. That’s wrong. That’s what Pravda did. That’s what Izvestia did when they were the Soviet Union’s press organ. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 7/17/17]

July 19

Gorka: CNN Has “Created A Crisis Of Credibility For Their Own Lack Of News.” During an appearance on the July 19 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, Gorka again criticized CNN, claiming the news organization “created a crisis of credibility for their own lack of news.” He also said he would go back on CNN “when they want to talk about real news.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/19/17]

Incoming White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci Refused To Commit To Regular On-Camera Press Briefings. During the first on-camera press briefing in over three weeks, incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci refused to commit to allowing cameras during press briefings, saying he had to consult with Trump about that first. Scaramucci also claimed “there feels like there’s a little bit of media bias” against the Trump administration. [Media Matters, 7/21/17]

Gorka Referred To White House Press Corps As “Fake News Representatives.” On Fox News' The Fox News Specialists, Gorka explained why he wouldn’t want to work as the White House press secretary, saying, “The idea that I'm supposed to be telepathically linked to somebody else and to stand in that room for a fist fight with fake news representatives, not interested.” [Fox News, The Fox News Specialists, 7/21/17]

Trump Tweet On Spicer’s Resignation: “Sean Spicer Is A Wonderful Person Who Took Tremendous Abuse From The Fake News Media.”

Spicer Disparaged White House Press Corps During Hannity Interview. During an interview on Fox’s Hannity after his eventual resignation as press secretary was announced, Spicer accused the White House press corps of not doing their jobs, and said many reporters have “a very clickbait mentality … where they're more interested in their clip or their click than they are about the truth and the facts.” He later said that many White House reporters are “not there for the facts and the pursuit of the truth. Rather, they are trying to figure out, How do I get on TV, how do I become a YouTube star? And that's disappointing.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/21/17]

July 22

Trump Accused The New York Times Of Foiling US Attempt To Kill ISIS Leader. In a tweet, Trump suggested, “The Failing New York Times foiled U.S. attempt to kill” the leader of ISIS, claiming the paper chose its “sick agenda over National Security.” Trump’s tweet came moments after Fox & Friends Saturday hyped the same claim. As The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple pointed out, the raid “was announced by the Penatgon .... via press release” before it occurred. The Times wrote a letter to Fox & Friends asking for an “on-air apology and tweet.”

Trump Exclaimed “FAKE NEWS” In Tweet About President’s “Complete Power To Pardon.” After The Washington Post reported on July 21 that “Trump has asked his advisers about his power to pardon aides, family members and even himself in connection with” special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, Trump tweeted, “why think of that when only crime so far is LEAKS again us,” adding, “FAKE NEWS.”

Conway: “This Is A Media That Has Decided It’s Going To Be Very Hostile.” In an interview on Fox’s Justice with Judge Jeanine, Conway argued in favor of Anthony Scaramuuci’s appointment as White House communications director by saying “we’re going to go out there and play offense,” because the media “has decided it’s going to be very hostile and stop every chance it gets -- just wear a stop sign constantly when we try to get our message out.” [Fox News, Justice with Judge Jeanine, 7/22/17]

Scaramucci: “There Is Some Fake News” About Trump Being Produced By News Organizations. In an interview on Fox News Sunday, incoming White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci was asked by host Chris Wallace: “Do you believe that the mainstream media deliberately puts out fake news about this president?” Scaramucci replied “there is some fake news, unfortunately,” declining to name any journalists or outlets, but saying, “there are specific individuals that do stretch stories or do fabricate things.” [Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox News Sunday, 7/23/17]

Conway Accused CNN Of Making A “Business Decision” To Be “Incredibly Unfair And Systematically Against” Trump. Conway attacked CNN at the beginning of an interview on CNN’s Reliable Sources, accusing the network of being “incredibly unfair and systematically against this president.” She added, “I guess you made a business decision to do so.” [Washington Examiner, 7/23/17]

Trump: “It’s Hard To Read The Failing New York Times Or The Amazon Washington Post Because Every Story/Opinion, Even If It Should Be Positive, Is Bad!”

July 24

Trump To Reporter Who Asked A Question About Health Care During Photo Opportunity: “Quiet.” When asked about health care during a photo session, Trump responded by simply telling the reporter “quiet.” [Twitter, 7/24/17]

Gorka: “The #FAKENEWSindustrialComplex’s Collusion Delusion Has Led To ‘Russian Concussion.’”

Gorka Described The Media’s Russia Coverage As “The Obsessive Phantasmagorical Obsession Of The Media.” In an interview on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber, Gorka dismissed media coverage of the various Russia investigations as “the obsessive phantasmagorical obsession of the media.” He later referred to the media as “the fake news industrial complex.” [MSNBC, The Beat with Ari Melber, 7/24/17]

Trump Referred To The Media As “Fake Media” And “Fake News” In A Speech At The National Scout Jamboree. Trump politicized his speech to the annual gathering of Boy Scouts, complaining about “fake media” and “fake news” during the speech:

THE PRESIDENT: By the way, what do you think the chances are that this incredible, massive crowd, record-setting is going to be shown on television tonight? One percent or zero? (Applause.)

The fake media will say: President Trump -- and you know what this is -- President Trump spoke before a small crowd of Boy Scouts today.

That's some -- that is some crowd. (Applause.)

Fake media. Fake news. Thank you. And I’m honored by that, by the way, all of you people they can't even see you. So thank you. I hope you can hear. [WhiteHouse.gov, 7/24/17]

July 25

Trump: The Washington Post Doesn’t Write “Truthful” Stories. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump complained about a Washington Post story on ending arms shipments to rebels in Syria, saying: “They didn’t write the truthful story, which they never do.” [The Wall Street Journal, 7/25/17]

Scaramucci: Left-Leaning Media Outlets Are “So Nasty.” In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Scaramucci suggested he wouldn’t do any interviews with left-leaning outlets “because they’re just so nasty.”

[Hugh Hewitt]: It worked in the primaries. When is he going to start doing CNN, NBC, my show on Saturday mornings?

[Anthony Scaramucci]: Well…

HH: You’re the comms director. Get him out there.

AS: Well, let me say a couple things about that. I want to get the ship right inside. I obviously did a press conference and did a couple morning shows, but what I really want to do is subordinate myself to the job of restructuring and reorganization. So I can talk on TV, and it’s, you know, I have a face for radio, so this is probably easier to talk on radio, but let me just say this to you. My real job for the President is act as a business executive to restructure what’s going on, and reset the culture inside the place. Once we do that, my, our mission is to go to Breitbart all the way down the food chain to you tell me. I don’t know who the leftist leaning people are.

HH: Talking Points Memo.

AS: Whatever it might…

HH: Don’t do Media matters.

AS: Whatever it might be. I probably won’t do those, because they’re just so nasty. [HughHewitt.com, 7/25/17]

Trump At His Ohio Rally Speech: “I’m Here This Evening To Cut Through The Fake News Filter And Speak Straight To The American People.” Trump repeatedly used the phrase “fake news” during his campaign rally speech in Youngstown, Ohio. He also called the media “a dishonest group of people” and claimed they don’t “want to see our country be great again”:

I'm here this evening to cut through the fake news filter and to speak straight to the American people. fake news. fake, fake, fake news. [Chants of "drain the swamp" from arena]. Boy oh boy, people. Is there anyplace that's more fun, more exciting and safer than a Trump rally?

[...]

Every single President on Mt. Rushmore — now here's what i do. I'd ask whether or not you think I will some day be on Mt. Rushmore, but, but here's the problem. If I did it joking, totally joking, having fun, the fake news media will say, "he believes he should be on Mt. Rushmore." So I won't say it, okay? I won't say it. But every president -- they'll say it anyway tomorrow. "Trump thinks he should be on Mt. Rushmore." Isn't that terrible? What a group. What a dishonest group of people, I'll tell you. [Cheers from crowd] And you know the funny thing is that you would think they'd want to see our country be great again. You would really think so. But they don't. Some day they'll explain it to me why. [Time, 7/26/17]

July 26

Huckabee Sanders Threatened To End Press Briefing If Reporters Kept Asking Questions About Trump’s Announced Ban On Transgender Military Service Personnel. After receiving a question from Urban Radio Networks’ April Ryan about Trump’s announced ban on transgender Americans from serving in the military, Huckabee Sanders said: “Guys, I really don't have anything else to add on that topic. As I do, I'll keep you posted. But if those are the only questions we have, I'm going to call it a day. But if we have questions on other topics, I'll be happy to take them.” [White House press briefing, 7/26/17]

Trump On Reporter Who Shouted Question About His Transgender Military Personnel Policy: “She’s Very Rude.” After a reporter shouted a question to Trump at the conclusion of an outdoor event at the White House about his ban on transgender Americans from serving in the military, Trump commented, “she’s very rude.” [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 7/26/17]

Trump Comment On Washington Post Story: “More Fake News From The Amazon Washington Post.” Trump responded to a Washington Post report on his private talks about replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with a recess appointment with a statement that read, “More fake news from the Amazon Washington Post.” [The Washington Post, 7/26/17]

July 27

Scaramucci Reportedly Told The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza He Was Unpatriotic For Not Disclosing Identity Of A Leaker To Him. Newsweek reported that “Scaramucci apparently told” The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza “that not disclosing” a suspected leaker “was unpatriotic.” [Newsweek, 7/27/17]

Huckabee Sanders Reiterated Trump Comment That Washington Post Report On Consideration Of A Recess Appointment To Replace Sessions Is “More Fake News From The Washington Post.” When asked by CBS’ Major Garrett about why she won’t offer more reassurance to Republicans that Trump won’t fire Sessions and won’t seek a recess appointment to replace him, Huckabee Sanders said: “I've answered your question, and yesterday you probably saw a statement come out from here that that was more fake news from The Washington Post on the fact that we were considering a recess appointment. I think that sums that up pretty clearly.” [White House press briefing, 7/27/17]

KELLYANNE CONWAY: You know, the mainstream media still puts them in quote, "Obamacare," quote, victims. Folks, they're real. You want to go cover intrigue? Go talk to those people, ask them what's happened to them and their families since they had their hours cut, their wages cut, their jobs cut, their health care benefits cut.

[...]

You know, the Congress' approval rating and the media's approval rating are far below the president's approval rating. They just don't cover it as much. [Fox News, Hannity, 7/27/17]

Huckabee Sanders During CBN Interview: “I’ve Never Seen The Level Of Hostility That We Have With Today’s Mainstream Media.”New York Times media correspondent Michael Grynbaum tweeted transcript from part of Huckabee Sanders’ interview with Christian Broadcasting Network where she slammed the media’s coverage of Trump:

Miller Personally Attacked CNN’s Jim Acosta As “Ignorant” And “Foolish” During A Press Briefing. After CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta challenged Miller saying, “it just sounds like you're trying to engineer the racial and ethnic flow of people into this country through this policy,” Miller replied: “Jim, that is one of the most outrageous, insulting, ignorant, and foolish things you've ever said, and for you, that's still a really -- the notion that you think that this is a racist bill is so wrong and so insulting.” [Media Matters, 8/2/17]

Huckabee Sanders: There Is “Absolutely” “A Lot Of Fake News,” Including Coming From Reporters In The Press Briefing. Huckabee Sanders agreed with Hannity that some of the White House press corps she addresses daily as press secretary are “fake news”:

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Am I correct, is the president correct, there is a lot of fake news today?

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Absolutely.

HANNITY: There really is. And is some of the fake news in that room every day with the people that you have to deal with?

HUCKABEE SANDERS: You bet it is. I'm not going to name names, but I think most Americans are certainly smart enough to figure it out. And I think that’s the reason that Donald Trump’s sitting in the White House, and that they were wrong then and they’re wrong again every single day. And you know, I think America is much smarter than the media gives them credit for. And I think that’s certainly working to our advantage. [Fox News, Hannity, 8/2/17]

August 3

Gorka Criticized CNN’s Jim Acosta, Calling Him A “Grandstanding Reporter.” The Daily Caller reported that Gorka said in a radio show interview that White House staffers were “high-fiving” Miller after his exchange with CNN’s Jim Acosta. Gorka said Miller’s response to Acosta “was a masterful, masterful example of how we are interested in the facts and the truth and the prosperity of the nation and how we have to deal with grandstanding reporters who think it’s their press briefing and not the White House’s.” He added, “It is a sad indictment. We are there to serve the American people, not Jim Acosta. It is not the Jim Acosta show, it is the White House press briefing.” [The Daily Caller, 8/3/17]

Trump’s Campaign Reportedly Went Back To “Penning In Reporters” At Trump’s West Virginia Rally.

Trump's campaign staffers are back to penning in reporters and making it especially difficult for them to interview his supporters.

August 4

Conway: Media And Others Are “Trying To Cheat” Trump Supporters “Out Of Their Rightful Presidency.” In a Fox & Friends interview, Conway explained what Trump meant when he said “they’re trying to cheat you” during his West Virginia rally:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: That was one of my favorite lines of the night, or passages of the night, where basically the president is telling the people of West Virginia, and by extension the country, that the media, the investigators, the Democratic Party -- they’re not just denying the election results for Donald Trump, they’re denying the American people who put him here. And they’re trying to cheat them out of their rightful presidency, but also all of the good that’s going to come from this presidency. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/4/17]

Pence: NY Times Article Reporting On His Positioning For 2020 Election Is “Disgraceful And Offensive To Me, My Family, And Our Entire Team.” Pence denounced what he called an “absurd” August 5 New York Times report that he may be planning to run for president in 2020, saying it was “disgraceful and offensive to me, my family, and our entire team.” He also said the reporting is “categorically false and represents just the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration.” He concluded the statement by invoking “fake news.” [The New York Times, 8/5/17; Twitter, 8/6/17]

Trump: “The Fake News Refuses To Report The Success Of The First 6 Months.”

August 7

Pence Press Secretary Marc Lotter: NY Times Article On Pence’s 2020 Plans Was “Speculation, Conjecture, Half Truths Masquerading As News On The Front Page Of The Never Trump New York Times.” Appearing on Fox & Friends, Marc Lotter, the vice president’s press secretary, denounced the New York Times report on Pence positioning for a possible 2020 presidential runas “absurd,” and “speculation, conjecture, half truths masquerading as news on the front page of the never-Trump New York Times." [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/7/17]

Trump: “The Fake News Media Will Not Talk About The Importance Of The United Nations Security Council's 15-0 Vote In Favor Of Sanctions On N. Korea!”

August 8

Gorka Again Invoked The “Fake News Industrial Complex”. When asked on MSNBC why Trump hadn’t tweeted about a bombing at a mosque in Minnesota or the deaths of three U.S. Marines near Australia, Gorka replied, “I'm not going to give social media advice to a man who basically won the election in large part thanks to his understanding of social media, and to destroy the fake news industrial complex’s predictions about who would win the last election. So just hold your horses, count to 10, and the president will do what he deems fit.” [MSNBC, MSNBC Live, 8/8/17]

Trump: “E-Mails Show That The AmazonWashingtonPost And The FailingNewYorkTimes Were Reluctant To Cover The Clinton/Lynch Secret Meeting In Plane.”

After CNN Poll Showed Trump At A New Low Approval Rating Of 38 Percent, He Tweeted: “Don’t Believe The Fake News Suppression Polls!” Following CNN reporting that according to its polling Trump’s approval rating had sunk to a new low of 38 percent, Trump tweeted, “Don’t believe the Fake News Suppression Polls!”

August 10

Gorka Called Out “The Journalists Of The Fake News Industrial Complex,” And Complained About “Fake News 101.” In defense of coments he made that were critical of the secretary of state Gorka claimed he was really just "admonishing the jouranlists of the fake news industrial complex." He also called reporting on his comments “fake news 101":

ELIZABETH CLAMAN (GUEST HOST): I would be remiss if we didn’t bring up what just happened at the secretary of state’s spokesperson’s meeting before the press. This morning, and let me just back up here for our viewers who might not know, I believe this morning you gave an interview to BBC Radio during which you said that “it was nonsensical for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to discuss military matters” and that he was “out of line.” Let’s hear what –

SEBASTIAN GORKA: Never said that.

CLAMAN: You’ve never said –

GORKA: I never said that secretary of state was -- that’s fake news 101.

[…]

GORKA: I was admonishing the journalists of the fake news industrial complex who are forcing our chief diplomat into a position where they are demanding he makes the military case for action when that is not the mandate of the secretary of state. That's why we have a Department of Defense. If a journalist doesn't know the difference between the secretary of state and the Department of Defense they should hand in their credentials, it's just absurd lack of understanding. He is our most senior diplomat and he has done an amazing job to get 15 nations of the U.N. Security Council to tell North Korea enough is enough. But when reporters try to force him to make statements regarding military options, they have no idea what they're talking about and if they think that's a story, they're not journalists. [Media Matters, 8/10/17]

Trump Campaign Released Ad Characterizing Media As “The President’s Enemies.” CBS News reported that a Trump campaign ad released on August 13 portrayed the media as “the president’s enemies.” From the August 14 article:

A new ad released by the Trump campaign on Sunday zeroes in on members of the media and "obstructionist" Democrats for attacking President Trump and standing in the way of his agenda.

[...]

The ad goes on to place blame on the news media, saying "the president's enemies don't want him to succeed, but Americans are saying let President Trump do his job."

American Urban Radio Networks White House correspondent April Ryan, who is featured as one of the so-called "enemies" in the ad, tweeted in response to the video. "Sad day I am singled out as an enemy of the White House as this racial hate is going on just for asking real questions and speaking truth," she tweeted Sunday. [CBS News, 8/14/17]

During Foreign Trip, Pence Attacked Media For Coverage Of Trump’s Initial Response To Death Of Counterprotester In Charlottesville. After Trump received criticism for not solely blaming white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia for the death of counterprotester Heather Heyer, Pence lashed out at the media from Colombia, claiming they “spent more time criticizing the president’s words than they did criticizing those that perpetrated the violence to begin with.” From an August 13 Politico article:

Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday evening criticized the media for its coverage of President Donald Trump's remarks Saturday on the violence in Charlottesville, VIrginia.

Speaking during a visit to the South American nation of Colombia, Pence said that it was appropriate to criticize not only the white supremacists behind the "Unite the Right" march but also counter-protesters on the scene.

"I will say I take issue with the fact that many in the national media spent more time criticizing the president’s words than they did criticizing those that perpetrated the violence to begin with," he said, speaking in a joint news conference with Colombia's president, Juan Manuel Santos.

"We should be putting the attention where it belongs, and that is on those extremist groups that need to be pushed out of the public debate entirely and discredited for the hate groups and dangerous fringe groups that they are." [Politico, 8/13/17]

August 15

Trump Attacked Media While Making More Comments About Charlottesville Violence. During an August 15 press conference, Trump lashed out at the media for criticizing his comments about the violence in Charlottesville, saying, “if the press were not fake and if it was honest, the press would have said what I said was very nice. But unlike you and … unlike the media, before I make a statement I like to know the facts.” He continued his press bashing throughout the event and seem to mock a reporter who brought up the “alt-right” involvement in Charlottesville. From a CNBC transcript (emphasis added):

Trump: I had to see the facts, unlike a lot of reporters — unlike a lot of reporters.

[...]

Reporter: Senator McCain said that the alt-right is behind these attacks, and he linked that same group to those who perpetrated the attack in Charlottesville.

Trump: Excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right. Do they have any semblance of guilt?

[Cross talk. Reporters shout questions.]

Trump: Let me ask you this. What about the fact they came charging — that they came charging, with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. So, you know, as far as I'm concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day-

[Cross talk. Reporters shout questions.]

Trump: Wait a minute. I'm not finished. I'm not finished, fake news. That was a horrible day.

[...]

Trump: Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue of Robert E. Lee. So … Excuse me. And you take a look at some of the groups and you see and you'd know it if you were honest reporters — which in many cases you're not. But many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee.

[...]

Trump: You're changing history. You're changing culture and you had people, and I'm not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists because they should be condemned, totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists, OK? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. [CNBC.com, 8/15/17]

August 17

Trump: “The Public Is Learning (Even More So) How Dishonest The Fake News Is. They Totally Misrepresent What I Say About Hate, Bigotry Etc. Shame!”

August 22

According To ProPublica, HUD Is Channeling “Trumpian Anti-Press Spirit” To Prevent Secretary Ben Carson From Being Interviewed. ProPublica’s Alec MacGillis reported on the measures taken by aides to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to avoid media coverage and interviews, describing it as “Trumpian anti-press spirit taken to a new level.” From his August 22 article:

In early July, Ben Carson went on the next leg of his listening tour: Baltimore. I was expecting the department to make a big deal of his return to his longtime home city. But instead, after the poor press coverage from the previous rounds of community outreach, the itinerary for the first day was kept private.

I managed to get my hands on the schedule and tagged along with a photographer. This did not please Carson’s entourage, which included, among others, a high-strung advance man in a bow tie, several security officers, Candy Carson, Ben Jr. and even his wife. When we arrived at the café where Carson and his family were having lunch with the mayor of Baltimore, Bow Tie arranged to have the Carsons rush out through the kitchen area to a back alley to avoid us. When, at the next stop, I was accidentally allowed into a meeting that Carson was holding at the city’s housing authority, Bow Tie leaped across the room to eject me. By the next stop, at a tour of the redevelopment near Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the federal agents guarding Carson took my picture as I stood on the sidewalk chatting with a neighbor. By the last stop, dinner with Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan at a deluxe waterfront restaurant opened by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, I was unsurprised when a Carson aide went to the maître d’ to report my presence at the bar. This was Trumpian anti-press spirit taken to a new level: protectiveness of a government executive to the point of seeking invisibility. [ProPublica, 8/22/17]

Pence Also Attacked The Media At Phoenix Rally.Politico reported that during his introduction of Trump to the stage, Pence “thrust a finger at the media pen … coaxing a Phoenix crowd to rain boos on the press, which Pence accused of ‘ignoring and distorting the facts.’” [Politico, 8/23/17]

Sanders Defended Trump’s Smear That Journalists “Don’t Like Our Country.” During a short press availability aboard Air Force One on August 23, Sanders was asked several questions about Trump’s attacks on the media during his Phoenix rally and defended Trump’s claims that some journalists don’t “love this country”:

Q And a follow to Jeff -- about being serious about the shutdown, was he also serious when he said that he didn’t think that some journalists -- some in the press -- love this country?

MS. SANDERS: Look, I think there are certainly some very real frustrations with the press, and certainly a lot of information out there that is not accurate that gets pushed to the American people. I think that's a real disservice to the American people. I think the job of reporters is to present facts and let people make up their own minds about where they stand on those issues. It's not for them to insert their own opinions and force those upon the American people. I think that's a problem. I think as much as we can avoid that, it's good for everybody.

Q Obviously you're the Press Secretary. Do you think what's happened since Charlottesville has irreparably damaged the President's relationship with the press?

MS. SANDERS: I don’t ever like to think that anything is irreparable. I certainly think that -- and the President pointed out last night -- that there are some good people within the press corps, but I do think that there are steps that need to be taken to make stories more accurate and to make sure that we're presenting the American people with the most -- the best information possible, and let them make up their mind on where they stand on particular issues. [WhiteHouse.gov, 8/23/17]

August 24

Conway Accused Media Of Airing “Opinion Commentary Disguised As Reporting.” During an appearance on Fox & Friends, as written by Fox News Insider, Conway claimed “there’s a ‘huge disconnect’ between what’s important to Americans and what the ‘media are telling Americans is important to them.’” She complained that a more recent speech Trump gave “got scant coverage” and said media coverage “has become opinion commentary disguised as reporting.” [Fox News Insider, 8/24/17]

Trump: “The Fake News Is Now Complaining About My Different Types Of Back To Back Speeches.”

Conway Accused CNN’s Chris Cuomo Of “Playing Politics” On Hurricane Harvey For Noting Republicans Voted Against Previous Hurricane Relief Packages. After CNN’s Chris Cuomo repeatedly asked Conway about how Trump would ensure Hurricane Harvey relief funding would be passed after many Republicans voted against relief for Hurricane Sandy, she said: “I think you're playing politics now with something like a tragedy in Harvey. I answered your question. The money will be there. We hope that Republicans and Democrats will come together and not politicize this. We see a lot of politics being played. I think instead having the same conversation five different ways over the course of the first three or four minutes of this interview, you could be putting up 1-800 numbers or websites or giving people information about diapers or pet rescues or meals or water.” [CNN, Cuomo Prime Time, 8/30/17]

Conway: “When Will The Trump Detractors, Naysayers, And Critics, Particularly Those In The Media -- When Will It End?” On Fox’s Hannity, Conway complained about media coverage critical of Trump’s visit to Texas following Hurricane Harvey, lamenting: “You basically asked the question, Sean, When will the Trump detractors, naysayers and critics, particularly those in the media -- when will it end? The question is when will it actually matter? There's very little indication that what the media are telling Americans is important to them is actually important to them.” [Fox News, Hannity, 8/30/17]

August 31

Conway Claimed People View Media As “Obstructionist And Resistant,” Citing Low Approval Ratings. On Fox & Friends, Conway said “the media and Congress should take a deep, hard look at their approval ratings, which aren’t so hot, folks, and recognize that a lot of that is because they’re seen as obstructionist and resistant” to Trump. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 8/31/17]

Axios: CDC Ordered Staff To Stop Communicating With Reporters. On September 12, Axios reported that a memo from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dated August 31 instructed staff to not communicate with reporters “even for a simple data-related question” unless its national communications office approved:

"Effective immediately and until further notice, any and all correspondence with any member of the news media, regardless of the nature of the inquiry, must be cleared through CDC's Atlanta Communications Office," Lancashire wrote. "This correspondence includes everything from formal interview requests to the most basic of data requests." [Axios, 9/12/17]

September 2017

September 3

EPA Castigated A Reporter “In Unusually Personal Terms” After His Reporting On The Agency's Hurricane Harvey Response. According to Politico, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) “excoriat[ed] an Associated Press reporter in unusually personal terms … after the reporter wrote a story that cast the agency in an unfavorable light.” Politico likened the EPA’s response to Trump’s own attacks on the press:

President Donald Trump’s habit of singling out reporters for attacks is being adopted by his federal agencies, with the Environmental Protection Agency excoriating an Associated Press reporter in unusually personal terms on Sunday after the reporter wrote a story that cast the agency in an unfavorable light.

“Yesterday, the Associated Press’ Michael Biesecker wrote an incredibly misleading story about toxic land sites that are under water,” the statement began. “Despite reporting from the comfort of Washington, Biesecker had the audacity to imply that agencies aren’t being responsive to the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey. Not only is this inaccurate, but it creates panic and politicizes the hard work of first responders who are actually in the affected area.”

[...]

It then continued the attacks on Biesecker, saying he “has a history of not letting the facts get in the way of his story” and noting that a July story he wrote inaccurately characterized an interaction between EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris. [Politico, 9/3/17]

September 7

Conway Tweeted The Link To An Article Titled “Media Beclown Themselves,” Adding That The Media Is “Always Negative/Never Sorry/Often Foolish.”

Wash. Post: Trump Bonded With Kuwait’s Emir By “Bashing The Media.” Following a joint presser with the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, The Washington Post explained how Trump bonded with the emir by “bashing the media.” The Post noted that “we’ve seen this before,” highlighting how Trump also criticized the media with Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu:

President Trump used a familiar bonding activity to commiserate with the emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Ahmed al-Sabah, during Thursday's joint news conference at the White House. The two men shared a laugh at the media's expense. [...]

It was unclear whether Sabah was complaining about the press in Qatar, where Al Jazeera is based, or in his own country — or both. Whatever the case, Trump saw an opportunity to form a connection.
“I'm very, very honored and happy to know that you have problems with the media also,” the president said.
We've seen this before. Trump had barely stepped off Air Force One in Tel Aviv in May when he and the Netanyahus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin and wife Sara, broke the ice by complaining about negative media coverage in their respective countries. [The Washington Post, 9/7/17]

September 13

Sanders Suggested That By Calling Trump A White Supremacist, ESPN Commentator Jemele Hill Had Committed “A Fireable Offense.” During the White House press briefing, Sanders was asked to comment ESPN’s Jemele Hill’s tweet in which she called Trump “a white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists.” Huckabee Sanders responded, “I think that’s one of the more outrageous comments that anyone could make and certainly something that I think is a fireable offense by ESPN.” [Media Matters, 9/13/17]

September 14

In Fox Interview, Sanders Doubled Down And Demanded ESPN Fire Hill. During a Fox & Friends appearance the day after her comments about ESPN's Hill at the press briefing, Sanders doubled down stating "I think ESPN should take actions" against Hill:

STEVE DOOCY (CO-HOST): Well, you said yesterday it was a fireable offense.

HUCKABEE SANDERS: And I stand by those comments. I think it was highly inappropriate, and I think ESPN should take actions. But I'll leave that up to them to decide, and I'll stay focused on my day job. [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 9/14/17]

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin: “I Didn’t Use A Government Plane On My Honeymoon, And If I Had I Would Have Paid For It Myself. #FakeNews.”

Sanders Repeated Her Position That Trump Criticism From ESPN’s Jemele Hill Is A “Fireable Offense.” During the September 15 White House press briefings, reporters continued to question Sanders about her statement that ESPN’s Hill committed a “fireable offense” when she criticized Trump, and she repeatedly said she stood by her comment:

MS. SANDERS: John, go ahead.

Q Do you still stand by your statement of the other day when you said that what Jemele Hill did was a fireable offense?

MS. SANDERS: I do. And again, I think that they laid that out themselves by suspending one of their own anchors for political comments.

[...]

Q Thank you, Sarah. A quick -- a question, but a quick clarification on the ESPN matter. You had said it was a fireable offense. That's being interpreted as saying that she should be fired. Are you or the President saying that she should be fired?

MS. SANDERS: That's not a decision that I’m going to make. That's something for ESPN to decide. Again, I was asked about that. I think it is a fireable offense based on the standard that ESPN has set themselves by saying that people that go too far and make political comments have been suspended from their own network. I think that that is a consistency that they should probably focus on. [WhiteHouse.gov, 9/15/17]

September 19

Pentagon Reporters Said Defense Department Is Restricting Press Access In Comparison With Previous Administrations.Politico reported that some Pentagon reporters are frustrated with decreased access to Defense Secretary James Mattis compared with previous administrations. A reporter who covered the Defense Department during the Obama administration was quoted describing the relationship between Mattis and the press as “the worst relationship I’ve ever seen.” From the September 19 report:

Pentagon reporters are complaining of decreased access to Defense Secretary James Mattis, as well as a reduction in journalists allowed to travel on official trips, at a time when the Trump administration is dealing with national security challenges from the Middle East to North Korea.

Under Mattis, the Defense Department has become less transparent and publicly accountable than it has been in previous administrations, according to interviews with numerous reporters who cover the beat. The reporters requested anonymity, saying they feared that being quoted by name could lead to further loss of access.

“This is the worst relationship I’ve seen,” said one Pentagon reporter who also covered the department under multiple secretaries of defense during President Barack Obama’s administration.

Under previous administrations, all three wire services — The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse — had typically been allowed to cover each trip made by the defense secretary. But that hasn’t been the case under Mattis. In response to the Pentagon excluding a Reuters correspondent from an upcoming trip, a spokesperson for the wire service declared that the decision “breaks with decades of standing practice.” [Politico, 9/19/17]

September 22

Trump: “The Russia Hoax Continues, Now It’s Ads On Facebook. What About The Totally Biased And Dishonest Media Coverage In Favor Of Crooked HIllary?”

Trump Lashed Out At “Fake News,” Singling Out CNN, During Alabama Rally. During a September 22 rally in Huntsville, Alabama Trump lashed out at "the media, the fake news," claiming that the wouldn't show the crowd size and falsely suggesting that CNN had turned their cameras off. From a transcript of Trump’s rally for Alabama Senate candidate Luther Strange in Huntsville, Alabama:

TRUMP: You know, the media, the fake news I call it, the worst, the fake news... They won't show this. You know, they'll say Donald Trump spoke before a small crowd in Alabama last night. It was a small crowd, very unenthusiastic crowd, it was a terrible evening. No, these are among the most dishonest people. I really mean it. These are among the most dishonest. For instance, look at the crowd. I'd love to have them show the crowd, but they don't show the crowd, they show me the whole night.

[...]

I was with one of the great gentlemen that I became friendly with, a leader of a major, major country, so I won't tell you because I said I'd keep it private, so, you know, there are only probably a lot of people watching on television. Oh, look at all those red lights. It's always fun to see a red light. Like, CNN has a red light on. And then I start saying it's fake news and you see that light go off so fast. By the way, do you think they showed the room? Look, do you think they showed up the little nooks and crannies of this? Do you think they showed the room? I don't think so. If there's an empty seat, they'll show that empty seat. Two people, they got up, they went to the bathroom, they're coming back in five, they show those empty seats every single time. Fake news. [Factba.se, 9/22/17; CNN.com, 8/23/17]

September 30

Trump Repeatedly Attacked Media Coverage Of The Administration’s Hurricane Maria Relief Efforts In Tweets. On September 30, Trump wrote several tweets throughout the day attacking media coverage of his administration’s relief efforts in Puerto Rico, telling residents “do not believe the #FakeNews!” Trump ended the Twitter tirade by posting a 10 minute video of unclear origin titled “KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK & IGNORE THE FAKE NEWS!”:

Trump: “NBC News Is #FakeNews And More Dishonest Than Even CNN. They Are A Disgrace To Good Reporting. No Wonder Their News Ratings Are Way Down!” Trump tweeted his criticism of NBC News following an October 4 report that Tillerson had called Trump a “moron” and nearly resigned over disputes and clashes with Trump’s White House.

Trump Responded To Reporter’s Question About Tillerson Story: “It Was Fake News. It Was A Totally Phony Story.” During Trump’s visit to Las Vegas following the October 1 mass shooting there, a reporter asked if he had anything to say about Tillerson’s reported comment calling the president a “moron.” Trump said: “It was fake news. It was a totally phony story. ... It was made up. It was made up by NBC. They just made it up.” [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 10/4/17]

October 5

Trump: “Why Isn’t The Senate Intel Committee Looking Into The Fake News Networks In OUR Country To See Why So Much Of Our News Is Just Made Up- FAKE!” After the Senate Intelligence Committee held a press conference about its investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, Trump asked in a tweet why the committee isn’t investigating American news organizations:

Huckabee Sanders Continued Trump’s Attacks On News Outlets During Press Briefing. During the press briefing, Huckabee Sanders repeatedly declined to walk back Trump’s call for a Senate investigation into American news organizations, and instead continuing his attacks:

First, Sanders was asked if there’s concern in the White House about the way Trump refers to stories he considers inaccurate as “fake news,” conflating the term with deliberately false stories, and whether she draws a distinction between the two. She said that the president is concerned with “inaccurate information that's being presented as factual” and “opinions that are being presented as news,” saying that problem “should be looked at.” She declined to draw such a distinction between incorrect and deliberately false reports:

[...]

Asked a second time about the president’s tweet and whether he values the First Amendment, she responded that he does but that “with those freedoms also come responsibilities and you have a responsibility to tell the truth.” She then declined to directly address a question about whether she thinks Congress should investigate news outlets:

[...]

When another reporter questioned whether the president believes the Senate Intelligence Committee should investigate U.S. news outlets, as he suggested in his tweet, Sanders replied, “I don’t know that that’s the case, but I do think that we should call on all media to a higher standard." [Media Matters, 10/5/17]

October 7

Trump: “More And More People Are Suggesting That Republicans (And Me) Should Be Given Equal Time On T.V. When You Look At The One-Sided Coverage?”

Trump On Negative Coverage Of His Puerto Rico Visit: “It’s Fake News.” During an interview with Mike Huckabee on his show Huckabee, Trump said negative coverage of his Puerto Rice response was “fake news. There is nothing else you can say about it.” [Trinity Broadcasting Network, Huckabee, 10/7/17]

October 10

In Forbes Interview, Trump Said Reporting That Tillerson Called Him A Moron Was “Fake News.” Trump told Forbes of reporting that Tillerson called him a moron: “"I think it's fake news, but if he did that, I guess we'll have to compare IQ tests. And I can tell you who is going to win." [Forbes, 10/10/17]

Trump: “The Fake News Is At It Again” By Saying Kelly May Be Fired, It’s “Totally Made Up By The Dishonest Media.”

Trump: It’s “Disgusting The Way The Press Is Able To Write Whatever They Want To Write … People Should Look Into It.” When Trump was asked during a joint presser with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau if he wants America’s nuclear arsenal to be increased, he dismissed it as “just fake news by NBC, which gives a lot of fake news lately.” He added, “it’s frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write, and people should look into it.” [MSNBC, MSNBC Live with Katy Tur, 10/11/17]

Trump: “Network News Has Become So Partisan, Distorted And Fake That Licenses Must Be Challenged And, If Appropriate, Revoked. Not Fair To Public!”

Trump Invoked “Fake News CNN” During Speech In Middletown, PA. During a speech on his plan to cut taxes, Trump acknowledged former CNN contributor Jeffrey Lord, saying, “he was on fake news CNN for a long time. He was one of my few sources of truth.” [Fox News, 10/11/17]

Trump During Hannity Interview: “Media Is Bad, They Are Really Dishonest People.” During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Trump ripped journalists as “very dishonest people” during a diatribe about the media:

TRUMP: But let's talk. Media is bad, they are really dishonest people. These are very, very dishonest people in many cases, in many cases. And not all. Look, I know some reporters, I know some journalists that are phenomenal people, and very straight, very honest.

But there's such dishonesty. I mean, you know, it's interesting. If I was just watching television, you don't know whether or not because, you know, you're just watching a report. But when you're the one being written about, you know if it's good or bad and it's always, they try and make it negative. So, the media -- I call it fake media. It is fake. It is so much fake news. [Fox News, Hannity, 10/11/17]

October 12

Trump: “The Fake News Is Going All Out In Order To Demean And Denigrate! Such Hatred!”

October 17

Trump Attacked Several News Outlets In Interviews With Conservative Talk Radio Hosts. On October 17, Trump granted interviews to several conservative talk radio hosts. In interviews with Mike Gallagher and Chris Plante, Trump attacked several mainstream outlets, including CNN, MSNBC, and NBC, calling them “so inaccurate” and alleging that the outlets “have an agenda.” Trump also lashed out at the media during an interview with Brian Kilmeade, host of the radio show Kilmeade & Friends and the Fox News morning show Fox & Friends, calling the media “a bunch of fakers.” Trump mentioned that Kilmeade has been “fair” to him and added, “Fox is good. Fox -- we love you, Fox.” [Media Matters, 10/17/17]

Trump: “So Much Fake News Being Put In Dying Magazines And Newspapers. Only Place Worse May Be @NBCNews, @CBSNews, @ABC And @CNN. Fiction Writers!”

October 18

Sessions: “I Don’t Know That I Can Make A Blanket Commitment” To “Not Putting Reporters In Jail For Doing Their Jobs.” When Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) asked Sessions during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing if he would “commit to not putting reporters in jail for doing their jobs,” Sessions replied, “Well, I don't know that I can make a blanket commitment to that effect. But I would say this: We have not taken any aggressive action against the media at this point. But we have matters that involve the most serious national security issues, that put our country at risk, and we will utilize the authorities that we have, legally and constitutionally, if we have to.” [The Washington Post, 10/18/17]

New Yorker’s Jane Mayer Described “Extraordinary” Steps Pence’s Office Took To Prevent Her From Interviewing Him.New Yorker writer Jane Mayer told NPR’s Fresh Air on October 18 about the “extraordinary” efforts Pence’s office went through to prevent her from interviewing him, including trying to block her from being a pool reporter:

TERRY GROSS (HOST): Do you think the Pence rule had anything to do with his declining to let you interview him, or do you think he just didn't want to be interviewed for the piece?

JANE MAYER: I think he really didn't want to be interviewed for the piece no matter what. It's - they've given very few interviews to anyone working on profiles. And they actually kind of went out of their way in the case of me to sort of block my access to them. I literally at one point became the pool reporter for the White House press association so that I could follow him on one of his trips where - on Air Force Two. And his office went to great lengths to try to see if they could block me from being the pool reporter that day. It was kind of extraordinary. It's never - I've been covering the White House on and off since the Reagan era, and I've never had anyone try to object to me being the pool reporter before. So they were keeping him very much under wraps. [NPR, 10/18/17]

White House Called The Washington Post “Disgusting” For Asking About A Reported Pledge From Trump To Donate $25,000 To The Father Of A Deceased Soldier. After the father of a deceased soldier told The Washington Post that Trump had offered him $25,000 in a personal phone call but failed to deliver it, the Post asked the White House about the claim. The White House responded by attacking the media:

[I]n a statement Wednesday afternoon, White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said: “The check has been sent. It’s disgusting that the media is taking something that should be recognized as a generous and sincere gesture, made privately by the President, and using it to advance the media’s biased agenda.” [The Washington Post, 10/18/17]

Scavino Tweeted Months-Old Video Of Trump, Captioned With The Quote, “The Dishonest Media Will NEVER Keep Us From Accomplishing Our Objectives on Behalf Of The GREAT AMERICAN PEOPLE.”

October 20

Sanders: “If Anybody Is Pushing A Lot Of Fabricated Things Right Now, I Think Most Of That Would Be Coming From The News Media.” During the October 20 press briefing, Sanders was asked about a quote by former President George W. Bush about American politics being vulnerable to “outright fabrication,” and accused news organizations of fabricating stories:

Q Okay, and then on the George W. Bush speech. He said at one point, “Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication.” Does President Trump agree with this assessment? And if so, what does he see as his role in addressing that?

MS. SANDERS: Does he agree with the assessment of what? I’m sorry.

Q That bigotry seems emboldened and our politics seem more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication. Those were for -- President Bush’s words.

MS. SANDERS: I think if anybody is pushing a lot of fabricated things right now, I think most of that would be coming from the news media. And we would certainly agree with that sentiment. [WhiteHouse.gov, 10/20/17]

October 21

Trump: “I Hope The Fake News Media Keeps Talking About Wacky Congresswoman Wilson In That She, As A Representative, Is Killing The Democrat Party!”

EPA Refused To Answer NY Times Reporter’s Questions, Attacked Him Instead.New York Times investigative reporter Eric Lipton wrote that he spent months trying to speak to the EPA about a specific story, and tweeted a response from the EPA attacking him:

No matter how much information we give you, you would never write a fair piece. The only thing inappropriate and biased is your continued fixation on writing elitist click bait trying to attack qualified professionals committed to serving their country. [Twitter, 10/21/17]

Trump: “Keep Hearing About ‘Tiny’ Amount Of Money Spent On Facebook Ads. What About The Billions Of Dollars Of Fake News On CNN, ABC, NBC & CBS?”

October 22

Sanders: I’ve “Never Experienced The Level Of … Hostility We See Day To Day” From Media. During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Huckabee Sanders said, “I’ve been around press and worked in politics my entire life, and never experienced the level of kind of hostility that I think we see day to day” from the press. [Fox Broadcasting Co., Fox News Sunday, 10/22/17]

Trump On Fox Business: “There Is A Fake Media Out There. I Get Treated Very Unfairly By The Media.” During an interview on Fox Business’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump explained his embrace of social media:

There is a fake media out there. I get treated very unfairly by the media. And I have a tremendous platform, I think I have 125 million people between Twitter and Instagram and all of them, and Facebook. I have a tremendous platform. So when somebody says something about me, I'm able to go bing, bing, bing, and I take care of it. The other way -- I’d never be able to get the word out. [Fox Business, Sunday Morning Futures, 10/22/17]

October 25

Trump On Fox Business: “I’m So Proud I Have Been Able To Convince People How Fake” The Media Are. In an interview on Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs Tonight, Trump bragged that “I really started this whole fake news thing,” and that “I’m so proud I have been able to convince people how fake it is”:

TRUMP: And you know I have come up with some pretty good names for people, [but] I think one of the best names is -- you know I really started this whole fake news thing. Now they've turned it around and now they're calling stories put out by Facebook fake, they're fake. What could be more fake than CBS, and NBC, and ABC, and CNN?

[...]

TRUMP: At least I can put out -- it's not that it want to do that, I would rather not do that, I would love to not do it at all. But at least I can put out the truth and I can put out the real word. And people agree, and if you look at the level of approval of the media, of general media -- if you look at it from the day I started running, to now, I'm so proud I have been able to convince people how fake it is, because it has taken a nosedive.

Except for your show, of course, and Sean [Hannity], and a few of them. There's some very good ones, and I have to say, Fox has treated me fairly. And I don't mean good, but they've treated me fairly. I don't want to be treated good, I just want to be treated fairly. [Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 10/25/17]

October 28

Trump: “Just Read The Nice Remarks By President Jimmy Carter About Me And How Badly I Am Treated By The Press (Fake News)."

November 2017

November 1

After Kelly Blamed The Civil War On Lack Of Compromise, Sanders Said, “It Is Disgusting And Absurd” For Reporter “To Suggest That Anyone Inside Of This Building Would Support Slavery.” After John Kelly was criticized for telling Fox’s Laura Ingraham that a lack of compromise led to the Civil War, reporter April Ryan, a black woman, asked the press secretary during a press briefing if Trump believes slavery was wrong. Sanders replied, “I think it is disgusting and absurd to suggest that anyone inside of this building would support slavery.”

Q And second question, last question. Compromise, the issue of compromise -- what is the definition of "compromise" as it relates to slavery and the Civil War?

MS. SANDERS: Look, I'm not going to get in and re-litigate the Civil War. It's like I told you yesterday, I think I've addressed the concerns that a lot of people had and the questions that you had, and I'm not to re-litigate history here.

Q There were a lot of questions still lingering when you left. And I'm going to ask the question again, and respectfully --

MS. SANDERS: Why don't you ask it in the way that you're apparently accusing me of being?

Q I'm not accusing; I'm asking a questions, Sarah. Seriously. The question is: Does this administration believe -- does this President believe slavery was wrong? And before you answer, Mary Frances Berry, a historian, said, in 1860 there was a compromise. The compromise was to have Southern states keep slavery, but the Confederacy fired on Fort Sumter that caused the Civil War. And because of the Civil War, what happened (inaudible)?

MS. SANDERS: I think it is disgusting and absurd to suggest that anyone inside of this building would support slavery. [Media Matters, 10/31/17; WhiteHouse.gov, 11/1/17]

November 2

Trump To Right-Wing Radio Host Larry O’Connor: “The Media Is Very False And Very Fake.” Trump attacked mainstream news outlets during an interview with a conservative talk radio host at the White House:

LARRY O’CONNOR (HOST): I want to ask you, just in general, this whole idea of a talk radio row in the White House, in the East Room --

TRUMP: Different.

O’CONNOR: Completely unprecedented. What does this tell us about how you think your voters and the American people get information right now through the media?

TRUMP: Well, the media is very false and very fake. If you look at CNN, if you look at NBC in particular, If you look at ABC, CBS -- and yet I find that the local media has been fantastic for me. I mean somebody had to be good, and Fox has treated me fairly. Fox has really treated me fairly, but the local media has been really great. [WMAL, The Larry O’Connor Show, 11/2/17]

Trump To Fox’s Laura Ingraham: “The Media Is Fake And Phoney.” In an interview on Laura Ingraham’s new Fox News show, The Ingraham Angle, Trump responded to a story about Clinton financing the DNC during the election cycle by saying, “I think it’s a major story. Now I don’t know if the mainstream fake media, because they are fake and phoney, but I just don’t know if they are going to pick it up.” [Politico, 11/2/17; Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 11/2/17]

November 3

Trump Complained It Was “Disgraceful” That DNC Story “Got ZERO Coverage On Fake News Network TV Last Night.”

Conway Accused Media Of “Lack Of Transparency” By “Not Telling The American People All The Good That’s Happening For Them.” In an appearance on CNN’s Reliable Sources, Conway claimed media outlets aren’t being transparent because they’re “not telling the American people all the good that’s happening for them.” She then attacked CNN's ratings. From the November 5 edition of CNN’s Reliable Sources:

KELLYANNE CONWAY: I think a lack of transparency is also not telling the American people all the good that's happening for them. If people just want to hear the negative, negative, negative, they'll continue to tune in. But not everybody's tuning in, Brian. Your ratings are not as high as other networks, cable stations, because people need to go somewhere else --

BRIAN STELTER (HOST): Then why are you here, Kellyanne? If you're going to take a shot at me, why are you here?

CONWAY: No. Excuse me, all you do is take shots at my boss. [CNN, Reliable Sources, 11/5/17]

Trump Complained To Sinclair Host About “Fake Media” Covering His Accomplishments. In an interview with host Sharyl Attkisson on Sinclair’s Full Measure, Trump complained about “the fake media, the fake news, from some of these people like CNN” not covering his administration the way he’d like. From the November 5 edition of Sinclair Broadcasting Group’s Full Measure:

DONALD TRUMP: I'll tell you what. I've been doing a lot of this. We've actually had a lot of bills passed despite what people think. I think I heard the number 70 and it's almost a record. And if you listen to the fake media, the fake news, from some of these people like CNN, they are so false and so many different networks. I mean, the level of false reporting to me -- somebody said, “What's the biggest surprise?” The amount of dishonesty of the press. But if you listen to a lot of the media -- “I didn't do well with bills passed” -- meaning Congress, meaning Senate and House. [Sinclair Broadcast Group, Full Measure, 11/5/17]

November 11

Trump: "They like to say I watch television—people with fake sources. You know, fake reporters, fake sources. But I don’t get to watch much television. Primarily because of documents. I’m reading documents. A lot."

November 13

Wash. Examiner: “President Trump Laughed When Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte Called Members Of The Press ‘Spies.’” The Washington Examiner, citing a press pool report, reported that “President Trump laughed when Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called members of the press ‘spies’ after being asked about human rights as the two leaders met at the ASEAN Summit in Manila” on November 13. [Washington Examiner, 11/13/17]

November 14

Trump On His Approval Numbers: “#FakeNews Likes To Say We’re In The 30’s. They Are Wrong. Some People Think Numbers Could Be In The 50’s.”

One of the most accurate polls last time around. But #FakeNews likes to say we’re in the 30’s. They are wrong. Some people think numbers could be in the 50's. Together, WE will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/YhrwkdObhP

November 17

CIA Director Mike Pompeo Ended Years-Long Norm Of Inviting Reporters To Annual Holiday Party.Politico on November 17 reported that “CIA Director Mike Pompeo has opted not to invite reporters to the CIA’s annual holiday party this year, ending a years-long streak of inviting the intelligence press corps to the upscale event.” According to Politico, “In recent years, the inclusion of reporters at the annual event has been the norm rather than the exception. The last documented time reporters were excluded appears to be 2011, when then-CIA Director David Petraeus scaled back the party due to budget issues.” [Politico, 11/17/17]

November 25

Trump Praised Fox News While Slamming CNN International As “A Major Source Of (Fake) News.”

Trump: “Wow, Matt Lauer Was Just Fired From NBC For ‘Inappropriate Sexual Behavior In The Workplace.’ But When Will The Top Executives At NBC & Comcast Be Fired For Putting Out So Much Fake News. Check Out Andy Lack’s Past!”

Trump Called For Firing Of Both NBC’s Phil Griffin And MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough Over “Unsolved Mystery” About The 2001 Death Of His Aide. The Washington Post reported that a tweet Trump wrote “appeared to be referring to the 2001 death of Lori Klausutis, a 28-year-old aide who worked for Scarborough at the time, when he represented Florida’s 1st congressional district.” But the Post explained, it was not an “unsolved mystery”:

But Klausutis’s death is not an unsolved mystery: Authorities determined 16 years ago that she died after losing consciousness from an abnormal heart rhythm and collapsed, striking her head. She was discovered in Scarborough’s office in Fort Walton Beach, lying on her back with her head near a desk, according to a 2001 police report.

The circumstances of Klausutis’s death on July 20, 2001, have prompted conspiracy theories — some of which appear to persist. But no foul play was suspected, and her death was ultimately ruled an accident by the medical examiner. [Twitter, 11/29/17; The Washington Post, 11/29/17]

Trump During Speech On Tax Cuts: “Look At All The Fake News Back There.” During a speech on tax cuts he was delivering in St. Charles, Missouri, Trump said, “Now the world is watching. Look at all the fake news back there.” [CNN, CNN Newsroom, 11/29/17]

Scavino: It’s Funny “Watching All Of The Pundits @MSNBC & @CNN Losing Their Minds Over An Administration That Continues To WIN, WIN, WIN For The American People.”

Even funnier is watching all of the pundits @MSNBC & @CNN losing their minds over an Administration that continues to WIN, WIN, WIN for the American people🇺🇸One day they’ll realize their hate & non-stop coverage helped elect #POTUS45 & they’re making #Trump2020 easier & easier! https://t.co/wXqlNvByZS

November 30

Trump Lashed Out At “The Failing @nytimes” For Editorial Board Taking Over Its Opinion Twitter Account. After The New York Times’ editorial board took over the @nytopinion Twitter account “to urge the Senate to reject a tax bill that hurts the middle class & the nation’s fiscal health,” Trump criticized the “failing @nytimes.”:

December 2017

December 1

White House Canceled Scheduled Photo Spray With Press Pool.

White House just canceled Trump's one photo op w news media present for 2day, per pooler @Bencjacobs. Pool was led to Oval Offc, waited outside, then led away & told "There is no pool spray." So no chance for reporters to ask re Flynn

Trump: “Congratulations To @ABC News For Suspending Brian Ross For His Horrendously Inaccurate And Dishonest Report On The Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt. More Networks And ‘Papers’ Should DO The Same With Their Fake News!”

December 4

White House Spokesman Refused To Answer Questions On The Record During Press Gaggle. The Los Angeles Times reported that White House spokesman Hogan Gidley refused to answer reporters’ questions on the record on Air Force One during a return trip from Utah, which “broke with longtime custom on such trips”:

President Trump has called the news media “the enemy” and routinely labeled reporting he dislikes “fake news.” On Monday, the White House broke another precedent in limiting the press’ ability to ask questions about the president’s decisions.

On a day filled with news, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told reporters traveling with the president aboard Air Force One that he would not take any questions on the record.

[...]

The refusal to take questions on the record broke with longtime custom on such trips, when informal press “gaggles” take the place of more formal, televised White House briefings.

Why was the White House refusing on-the-record questions? Gidley said he would not answer that question on the record. [Los Angeles Times, 12/4/17]

Trump Repeatedly Bashed “Fake News” And Targeted CNN And ABC During Pensacola, FL Rally. During his Pensacola, FL rally where he urged people in Alabama to vote for Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore, Trump used the phrase “fake news” several times, complained about “fake polls,” and specifically called out a “fake” poll from CNN that “they will have to apologize for.” He also called for people to sue ABC News over Brian Ross' erroneous report. [Factba.se, 12/8/17; Trump rally in Pensacola, FL, 12/8/17]

December 11

Sanders Attacked Wash. Post’s Weigel During Press Briefing For Erroneous Tweet. Sanders accused Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel of being "an individual trying to put their bias into their reporting"” when he sent an erroneous tweet about the crowd size at Trump’s December 8 Pensacola rally, saying it “has gotten a little bit out of control.” [WhiteHouse.gov, 12/11/17]

December 12

Trump Called Media Coverage Of Women Accusing Him Of Sexual Harassment And Assault “FAKE NEWS!”

CNN’s Jim Acosta Said Sanders Threatened Him With Exclusion From Pool Spray If He Asked Trump A Question.

Prior to this morment, @presssec issued a warning to me. She said if I asked a question of Trump at the bill signing "I can't promise you will be allowed into a pool spray again." Sorry Sarah.. we won't be intimidated. https://t.co/RZgJpXpyEg

December 13

Trump Invoked “Fake News Media” During White House Remarks On Tax Legislation. During remarks at the White House about tax legislation, Trump said, “I used the word media, did you notice? As opposed to fake news media.” [Twitter, 12/13/17]

December 15

Trump Attacked “Fake News” Media During Speech At FBI National Academy. During a speech he delivered to the FBI National Academy, Trump pointed to reporters and cameras from media outlets covering his speech and said, “You see, there’s the fake news back there. Look, everyone. Fake news. No, actually some of them are fine people. About, let’s see who’s back there, yeah, about 30 percent.” [Fox News, Trump speech at FBI National Academy, 12/15/17]

December 19

Sanders Blamed Low Presidential Approval Numbers On Press Coverage. During the White House press briefing, Sanders responded to a question about Trump’s low approval numbers by blaming media coverage of the administration. From the White House’s transcript of the December 19 press briefing:

Q Thanks a lot, Sarah. You ticked off a number of accomplishments that you see the President has made in this first year in office. Why are his approval ratings mired in the mid- to upper-30s, despite those accomplishments?

[PRESS SECRETARY SARAH SANDERS:] I think oftentimes because, while the President and this administration has been very focused on how we can better help the American people, I think oftentimes the media is focused on other things — certainly not talking about the growing economy; certainly not talking about the crushing of ISIS; not talking about the creation of jobs.

If you look at the amount of time that is spent on negative coverage of this President, 90 percent of the coverage is negative about this President, when, as you just said, I listed off a number of things that have been pretty historic in nature in this first year. And if people were focused a lot more on those things in the media, I think that his numbers would be a lot higher. [WhiteHouse.gov, 12/19/17]

Trump Invoked “Failing New York Times” Insult During Interview With Times Reporter. During an interview with New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, Trump said, “Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times.” From the December 28 article:

Mr. Trump said he believes members of the news media will eventually cover him more favorably because they are profiting from the interest in his presidency and thus will want him re-elected.

“Another reason that I’m going to win another four years is because newspapers, television, all forms of media will tank if I’m not there because without me, their ratings are going down the tubes,” Mr. Trump said, then invoked one of his preferred insults. “Without me, The New York Times will indeed be not the failing New York Times, but the failed New York Times.”

He added: “So they basically have to let me win. And eventually, probably six months before the election, they’ll be loving me because they’re saying, ‘Please, please, don’t lose Donald Trump.’ O.K.” [The New York Times, 12/28/17]

After CNN’s Brian Stelter Said He Contacted Twitter About One Of Trump’s Tweets, Scavino Attacked Him. Following a tweet by Trump bragging about his “Nuclear Button” after North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un did the same, CNN’s Brian Stelter said he contacted Twitter about whether Trump’s tweet might violate its terms of service. Dan Scavino then attacked Stelter on Twitter.

January 4

Trump Lawyers Attempted To Stop Publication Of Michael Wolff Book About The Trump Administration. CNN reported that an attorney representing Trump sent a cease-and-desist letter to Michael Wolff and his publisher over his new book on the Trump administration. From the January 4 article:

Charles Harder, an attorney representing the president, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Wolff and his publisher, Henry Holt, on Thursday morning.

The legal letter, a copy of which was obtained by CNNMoney, demanded that the publisher "cease and desist from any further publication, release or dissemination" of the book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."

Wolff's book is full of shocking quotes and claims about White House chaos and incompetence. The book affirms much of what's been previously reported by other outlets and adds disturbing new details. But it also contains some errors, according to early reviewers. Excerpts from the book have been published by New York magazine and The Hollywood Reporter.

Harder's letter alleges that the book excerpts contain "false/baseless statements" about the president. The letter also uses the term "actual malice," raising the prospect of a libel or defamation case. [CNN, 1/4/18]

Mnuchin On Michael Wolff Book About The Trump Administration: “We Have Become Used To #FakeNews, Now We Have #FakeBooks! #MAGA.”

Sanders Suggested Breitbart.com Fire Bannon Over His Comments In Wolff’s Book. When asked by a reporter during a White House press briefing whether Breitbart.com should “part ways with Steve Bannon after the comments in” Michael Wolff’s book regarding people in Trump’s orbit, Sanders replied, “I certainly think that it's something that they should look at and consider.” [White House press briefing, 1/4/18]

Trump On Michael Wolff: “I Authorized Zero Access To White House (Actually Turned Him Down Many Times) For Author Of Phony Book! I Never Spoke To Him For Book. Full Of Lies, Misrepresentations And Sources That Don’t Exist. Look At This Guy’s Past And Watch What Happens To Him And Sloppy Steve!”

January 5

Trump Quoted RNC Tweet Attacking Wolff And Added Wolff Was “A Total Loser Who Made Up Stories” And “Used Sloppy Steve Bannon” “In Order To Sell This Really Boring And Untruthful Book.”

Michael Wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell this really boring and untruthful book. He used Sloppy Steve Bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. Now Sloppy Steve has been dumped like a dog by almost everyone. Too bad! https://t.co/mEeUhk5ZV9

January 6

Trump On Wolff’s Book: “The Fake News Mainstream Media” Are “Taking Out The Old Ronald Reagan Playbook And Screaming Mental Stability And Intelligence.” Trump wrote three tweets where he attacked the “fake news mainstream media” and defended his mental acumen following revelations from Michael Wolff’s book about Trump’s aides doubting his intelligence and fitness for office.

Trump Called Wolff “A Fraud” And Complained That “The Libel Laws Are Very Weak In This Country.” After making remarks with Republican congressional leaders at Camp David, Trump called Michael Wolff “a fraud,” complained that “the libel laws are very weak in this country,” and again referred to Breitbart.com executive Stephen Bannon as “sloppy Steve.” [Factba.se, 1/6/18]

January 7

During CNN Interview, Miller Called Wolff “A Garbage Author Of A Garbage Book” And Attacked CNN For Its Trump Coverage. Miller was interviewed on CNN’s State of the Union about Michael Wolff’s book, where he called Wolff “a garbage author of a garbage book” and said CNN created a “toxic environment” with its “24 hours of negative anti-Trump hysterical coverage.” From the January 7 edition of CNN’s State of the Union:

STEPHEN MILLER: The book is best understood as a work of very poorly written fiction. And I also will say that the author is a garbage author of a garbage book.

[...]

MILLER: You get 24 hours of negative anti-Trump hysterical coverage on this network that led in recent weeks to some spectacularly embarrassing false reporting from your network.

[...]

JAKE TAPPER (HOST): Do you think tweets like that help or hurt the cause that the president is stable and up for the job?

MILLER: Not only do I think they help it, but I think in the toxic environment that you've create here at CNN and cable news, which is a real crisis of legitimacy for your network. And we saw it, of course, with the extremely fake news you reported about the Don Jr. and WikiLeaks story. That was a huge embarrassment for your network.

TAPPER: Stephen --

MILLER: Just like the huge embarrassment you had when you got the Comey testimony wrong. [CNN, State of the Union, 1/7/18]

Trump: “I’ve Had To Put Up With Fake News From The First Day I Announced That I Would Be Running For President. Now I Have To Put Up With A Fake Book, Written By A Totally Discredited Author.”

Trump Called His Twitter Account “Our Only Way Around The Media. Fake Media” During Speech To American Farm Bureau In Nashville, TN. During a January 8 speech he gave at the annual convention of American Farm Bureau in Nashville, TN, Trump encouraged audience members to follow his Twitter account, saying: “It’s our only way around the media. Fake media.” [WhiteHouse.gov, 1/8/18]

January 10

Trump: “We Are Going To Take A Strong Look At Our Country’s Libel Laws.” During a January 10 cabinet meeting, Trump announced his intention to “look at” libel laws to country to stop “false and defamatory” claims without referencing any reporting:

THE PRESIDENT: On a separate front, we are going to take a strong look at our country’s libel laws so that when somebody says something that is false and defamatory about someone, that person will have meaningful recourse in our courts. If somebody says something that’s totally false and knowingly false, that the person that has been abused, defamed, libeled will have meaningful recourse.

Our current libel laws are a sham and a disgrace, and do not represent American values or American fairness. So we’re going to take a strong look at that. We want fairness. You can’t say things that are false — knowingly false — and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account. We’re going to take a very, very strong look at that. And I think what the American people want to see is fairness. [WhiteHouse.gov, 1/10/18]

Conway Defended Trump’s Attacks On Libel Laws: “People Are Trying To Get In His Way, Trying To Nullify His Election” Through Reporting. CNN host Chris Cuomo asked Conway about Trump’s libel remarks, asking, “Is the president really serious about wanting to take a good look at finding ways to abridge the freedom of the press?” Conway disputed that “going to look at the libel laws” is “abridging the freedom of the press.” She later justified it, saying, “People are trying to get in his way, trying to nullify his election, trying to throw crocodiles in the water at all chances. It’s not going to happen.” [CNN, Cuomo Prime Time, 1/10/18]

Trump Referred To Media As “Corrupt” In WSJ Interview. In an interview Trump conducted with The Wall Street Journal on January 11, the president responded to a question about his relationship with former White House adviser Steve Bannon by saying, “Steve’s greatest asset is he was able to convince a corrupt media that he was responsible for my win.” [The Wall Street Journal, 1/14/18]

Unidentified White House Official Referred To Reporters On Conference Call As “The Illegitimate Media.” A CBS News report about technical difficulties during a January 11 White House conference call with reporters on Iran featured an unidentified White House official referring to reporters as “the illegitimate media”:

It took the White House 22 minutes to figure out how to enable the "listening only" feature on a conference call on Thursday in which senior administration officials announced that President Trump would continue to waive nuclear program-related sanctions, keeping the deal intact.

"This White House can't even run a f*cking conference call," a reporter on an unmuted phone line angrily exclaimed to the entire call. "They don't know how to mute their line."

"It's the illegitimate media that doesn't know how to conduct themselves. They can't mute their f*cking phones," an unidentified official said. "Mute your phones."

Another White House official repeatedly attempted to quiet the noisy line "so the people in charge" could talk.

"I think if everyone had half a brain and common sense and muted their phones, this wouldn't be a problem," she yelled in an apparent fit of frustration. [CBS News, 1/12/18]

January 13

Trump: “So Much Fake News Is Being Reported. They Don’t Even Try To Get It Right, Or Correct It When They Are Wrong. They Promote The Fake Book Of A Mentally Deranged Author, Who Knowingly Writes False Information. The Mainstream Media Is Crazed That WE Won The Election!”

January 16

Sanders: “It Is Disgraceful The Way That This President Is Treated” By The Media. During an appearance on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Sanders was asked about research from the conservative Media Research Center showing overwhelmingly negative coverage of Trump from the top three broadcast networks’ evening newscasts. Sanders responded: “Look, I have said it before, I will say it again, I think it’s disgraceful the way that this president is treated. If he was anybody else, the media would be going on and on trumpeting his successes.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 1/16/18]

Following Sanders’ Fox & Friends Appearance, Trump Complained That “Fake News Mainstream Media Never Likes Covering The Great And Record Setting Economic News” And That “Much Of” His Negative Coverage Is “Contrived.”

January 17

Trump Announced His “FAKE NEWS Winners.” Trump announced the “winners” of his “fake news awards” with a tweet that linked to a GOP.com post listing the “winners.” The post concluded by calling “Russian collusion … perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people”:

6. CNN FALSELY edited a video to make it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister. Japanese prime minister actually led the way with the feeding.

[...]

7. CNN FALSELY reported about Anthony Scaramucci’s meeting with a Russian, but retracted it due to a “significant breakdown in process.”

[...]

8. Newsweek FALSELY reported that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trump’s hand.

[...]

9. CNN FALSELY reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim that he was told he is not under investigation.

[...]

10. The New York Times FALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report.

[...]

11. And last, but not least: "RUSSIA COLLUSION!" Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION! [Twitter, 1/17/18; GOP.com, 1/18/17]

Trump Riffed Off His “Fake News Awards” To Attack Media With Two More Tweets. Minutes after posting a link to his “fake news awards” winners, Trump declared, “Despite some very corrupt and dishonest media coverage, there are many great reporters I respect.” He then tweeted: “Together there is nothing we can’t overcome-- even a very biased media.”